Living behind a primary school has advantages when you have small children.
An unexpected bonus was the access to the school grounds for events and related activities.
One of the regular duties of rostered school families was to clean up around the grounds and collect as much loose rubbish as possible.
This task proved surprisingly fun and satisfying as a family team. So much so, that we would do it when we were not even rostered on.
After roughly 30 minutes, each of us would be proudly holding our bags aloft and vying for the honour of best rubbish collector.
And the result was almost miraculous. Half an hour and five enthusiastic pairs of hands and pfft…the rubbish was gone.
I recently read a local story of someone similarly cleaning up (other owners’) dog poo.
It triggered my fond memories and I have been re-inspired.
On my regular runs and walks, I do see the odd dog deposit on pathways and a few abandoned poo bags. Not in the quantities the keyboard warriors would suggest, but it is there and of course no one wants to step in it.
I figure if a few of us adopt the same habit as the person in the story, we may have a miraculously clean Ocean Grove.
So now, I carry at a few spare bags and pick up whatever I see.
And where there is a poo bag at the base of the beach stairs it’s obvious someone wasn’t able to leave the beach and walk the several hundred metres to the nearest bin.
Easy enough to collect it on the way through and dump it where it needs to go.
We don’t need a roster, it’s not difficult and it’s immensely satisfying.
Happy 2023 and cheers to keeping our beautiful environment beautiful.
