Heavily Shoalhaven connected Australian environmental charity, Take 3 for the Sea, will develop and deliver its new online Surf Life Saving Clubs (SLSC) program throughout the 2020-21 surf life-saving season.
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The first of its kind in Australia, Take 3's new online program aims to empower SLSCs and their communities to be part of the solution to plastic pollution washing up on their local beaches.
The online program will deliver education about plastic pollution to SLSCs around Australia, with a focus on how plastic affects coastal and marine environments, and provide accessible actions SLSCs can take to make a positive impact.
The program is supported by the NSW Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) through the Round Five Community Litter Grant program, and is a Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
Five focus areas make up Take 3's SLSC program;
- educating clubs on litter in the environment;
- litter reduction;
- litter enforcement, in conjunction with the local council and the Hey Tosser! campaign;
- teaching clubs how to run their own beach clean up;and
- the importance of data collection.
The South Coast of NSW is the pilot region for the program and will see Shoalhaven Heads SLSC, Sussex Inlet SLSC and Basin Community Nippers Clubs inducted in the first season, before state and national expansion from the 2021-22 season.
Take 3 hopes to demonstrate the benefits of collaboration between Shoalhaven City Council (who is an ongoing Take 3 council program partner), surf clubs and DPIE through the pioneer program.
"To date, Take 3's SLSC program has been delivered to more than 40 surf clubs around Australia, and has seen major positive impacts as a result," Sarah Beard, CEO of Take 3 said.
"We've cleaned 1.7 million square metres of beach around Australia, and removed 9,700 tonnes of rubbish from those sites.
"Take 3 expects to see these impacts multiplied greatly in the years to come, thanks to the accessibility of the new program's online format."
Take 3 SLSC program manager and Shoalhaven resident, Monica Mudge, said the program was an exiting one.
"The support from DPIE's Local Litter Grant to take our SLSC program online is testimony to the huge success the Take 3 SLSC program has already experienced across the state, particularly here in the Shoalhaven, with the ongoing backing from the Shoalhaven City Council," Ms Mudge said.
"I am really excited to work with these three South Coast SLSCs and to develop the program to an online platform for surf clubs across the state, and even country, to have access to."
The new online program embodies the evolution of Take 3's education programs and will allow the leading education on plastic pollution and waste in communities to be accessed by more Aussie Nippers and communities than ever before.
About Take 3
Take 3 is an award-winning and celebrated leader in protecting oceans, with a mission to reduce global plastic pollution through education that inspires participation.
The non-profit organisation, headquartered on the Central Coast, aims to increase participation in simple actions to reduce waste and plastic pollution.
Their simple call to action encourages individuals to Take 3 pieces of rubbish before leaving the beach, waterway or... anywhere.
Their global #Take3fortheSea campaign has seen over 30 million pieces of rubbish removed from the environment, and has sparked grassroots community action in 129 countries.
What Take 3 delivered
- it has delivered education programs to over 500,000 students, from 1,000 schools and 40 Surf Life Saving Clubs and countless communities around Australia and
- sparked a global #Take3fortheSea movement with over 340,000 followers who are removing over 10 million pieces of rubbish from the environment every year
Visit www.take3.org for more information and to join the movement.
