Mark your calendar – the annual Clean Up Australia Day is Sunday 3 March 2013 and this year, Woodend Landcare is cleaning up the pool/skatepark precinct and nearby Five Mile Creek.

All local residents are encouraged to come down and lend a hand.

“Clean Up Australia Day is the perfect opportunity for locals to come down to the creek for a couple of hours and help clean up our local waterway and civic precinct,” said Kate Daniel, site supervisor.

“Plastic bags, soft drink bottles, cans, general food packaging and fast-food packaging are the top five items that we find in our creek and around Woodend town. Collecting rubbish on the day reduces the amount of junk that will eventually find its way into the creek or into stormwater drains. It’s also a very real reminder that we need to reduce our impact on the environment.  We can all reduce or re-use the amount of plastic and packaging in our lives. At the very least, we must teach our kids to put their rubbish in a bin.”

In 2013 hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the country will take their white and yellow bags and don their gloves to clean up their local community.

“We’re very pleased that Joeys, Cubs and Scouts from the 2^nd Woodend Scout Group will be joining us on the day to assist. Helping with projects such as Clean Up Australia Day provides the Scouts with the opportunity to care for the environment, an important part of the scouting program. Woodend Scouts also have a special interest in the billabong off the creek which they helped plant out with us last year.” added Ms Daniel.

The meeting point for Woodend’s Clean Up is on Five Mile Creek, at the rotunda near the swimming pool in Margery Crescent. All are welcome from 9:30 am to 12:30. Simply turn up at the rotunda on the day with gloves, a hat, sturdy shoes and sunscreen.

For any further inquiries, contact Kate Daniel, Woodend Landcare, 5427 2312.