BeachPatrol & Love Our Street Newsletter | Q2 2026
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Community engagement is thriving. See what we've been up to this quarter!
Our volunteer leaders engage with communities in all sorts of ways, not just at our monthly clean ups. Here is a selection of activities that took place over the past few months:
Corporate clean ups went from strength to strength. Over the course of 7 events, over 100 volunteers cleaned up Elwood, Port Melbourne and St Kilda beaches. Thank you to: Ciena, HESTA, Live Nation, Novotel, Stantec, Telstra and Yo Chi! Organise a clean up for your team.
We partnered with the University of Melbourne & Monash University Oxfam branches for their Volunteer Connect expo. It was wonderful to see the energy and passion of the next generation of environmental leaders in action. See more on Instagram.
Dr. Isabelle Schupak's new book Herbie and the Big Clean Up will engage the even younger at heart! BeachPatrol is delighted to collaborate with Isabelle, and hope lots of children get to experience clean beaches as a result. Learn more.
Students from Hailebury Brighton and Keysborough campuses took part in educational sessions and a beach clean up as part of the Social Impact Ventures elective. We're thrilled to see the younger generation engaging with conservation and sustainability activities. See more on Instagram.
Minister Erdogan was presented with 352 plastic bottle caps collected from Sandringham beach over the past 9 months!
Campaign update: tethered tops
Our partners at the Boomerang Alliance recently met with Victoria's Minister for Environment, Enver Erdogan to talk about improvments to the CDS and the need for tethered bottle caps.
This type of engagement is what the Boomerang Alliance is all about! We we are proud to be a driving force behind the #tetheredbottlcaps campaign.
Winter is here! Get one of our exclusive hoodies
Yes, they're back! We are taking orders for our cosy hoodies - perfect for those chilly winter clean ups. The hoodies are priced at only $55 +postage.
Wyndham groups mega clean up
70+ volunteers braved the wet to blitz Werribee's litter
On Sunday, May 17th, more than 70 volunteers gathered at Wyndham Park for a massive combined clean up, successfully clearing over 120 kg of rubbish from the park and Werribee River banks. Groups represented included Hoppers Crossing, Manor Lakes, Point Cook and Werribee
Supported by a Wyndham City Council grant, the event brought together a true cross-section of our community—from local state MP John Lister and council representatives to senior citizen groups and passionate students from Alamanda College.
The highlights:
120+ kg of total rubbish removed from local public spaces.
110 drink containers diverted from landfill directly into the Container Deposit Scheme (68 cans, 22 plastic bottles, and 20 glass bottles)
New clean up equipment purchased using the grant funding, to support ongoing community clean up activity.
"Since we made the mess, we have the power to clean it up!" — Alamanda College Students
The morning wrapped up with a free community BBQ, giving volunteers of all ages a chance to connect, celebrate their hard work, and enjoy a cleaner, healthier Werribee.
Thank you to everyone who rolled up their sleeves! Visit our website to keep up to date on the clean ups happening near you.
We are also delighted to announce the relaunch of Werribee Love Our Street - keep an eye out for social media and email announcements.
The Big Butt Hunt is back!
The No More Butts Big Butt Hunt is back for 2026. Coinciding with World Clean Up Day on September 20th, we are coming together to grab some butts and help shine a light on the world's most littered item. Mark 20th September in your calendar and keep an eye out for more info coming soon!
South Melbourne Market bans soy sauce fish
We're pleased to share that since 1 June 2026, plastic soy sauce fish are no longer being used at South Melbourne Market. Our volunteer groups pick up hundreds of these single use plastic items every year. Let's hope more organisations and governments move to ban these pesky plastic fish. Learn more.
Have your say and help support us
This is an invitation from the Community Engagement for Disaster Risk Reduction (CEDRR) team at the University of Melbourne. They are currently conducting engagements with residents in Melbourne to better understand how households view flood risk and the circular economy.
They invite you to participate in a short (20-30 min) online conversation with a member of their research team. If you choose to participate, CEDRR will donate $25 to Beach Patrol Australia as thanks for sharing your time and experience. Then, six months later, if you complete a brief follow-up interview over the phone (5 min) you will raise an additional $25 ($50 total per person).
To sign up to participate, click this link. A member of their research team will then be in touch shortly to arrange a time to do the interview. Thank you!
2026 Q2 Litter Stopper stats
Key items
- 807 glass bottles
- 1,197 plastic bottles
- 1,392 metal cans
Volunteer activity
- 297 clean ups
- 1,636 volunteers
- 1,688 cleaning hours
Overall impact
- 36,360 items counted
- 3,059 kg litter removed
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