This Week is ‘Keep Australia Beautiful Week’

18 August 2020

Keep Australia Beautiful Logo Compressed

This week is Keep Australia Beautiful Week!

 

Keep Australia Beautiful Week (KAB Week) was established in 1968 to raise awareness about the impact of waste on our environment.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the focus of this year’s Keep Australia Beautiful Week is a little different.  Running from 17th to 23rd August, the event aims to educate Australians on how the virus’ influence on our daily lives has led to an increase in certain types of waste.

In a bid to minimise the spread of COVID-19, as a nation we have increased our hygiene practices. And this has involved a surge in the use of hand sanitiser and face masks, as well as single-use, disposable items, such as gloves and food and beverage containers.

The downside of this is that these items have the potential to end up as wind-blown waste, or in landfill.

However, the good news is that there are ways in which we can all work towards a cleaner Australia from the comfort of our homes. Keep Australia Beautiful Week will be publishing daily tips on how you can help to prevent the spread of litter.

 

Perth Beach Rottnest Compressed Use

 

These tips will focus on the three main ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle some of the products we’re using more of these days:

  1. How to protect you and your loved ones with minimal impact on our planet.
  2. How to maintain good hygiene practices without polluting our environment.
  3. How to reduce, reuse and recycle the single-use consumables from takeaway food and drinks.

 

How You Can Get Involved

Learn:

  • Sign up to receive information and updates from the event organisers.
  • And follow Keep Australia Beautiful Week’s Facebook and Instagram channels for daily tips on how you can help to stop the spread of litter.

Take Action:

  • Why not treat your street to a tidy-up? Or organise a more widespread clean-up around your neighbourhood? If you register your clean-up, Keep Australia Beautiful Week will send you bags, tongs and gloves to use.
  • Consider how you can adopt the 5 Rs – reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle and repair – to help cut the amount of waste you produce.
  • Register as a Litter Reporter and report any littering you witness. Litterers can receive a $200 fine.

Spread the Word:

  • Encourage others to get involved.
  • Share our daily social media posts across your social media platforms using #KABWeek2020.
  • You can also share your success stories, photos and updates.
  • Share information from the “If you leave litter, you’re rubbish” campaign via newsletters, emails, social media channels and word-of-mouth.

Teach: 

  • A range of curriculum resources have been developed to help teachers introduce the topic of litter to their classes, in a fun and interactive way.
  • These resources are designed to educate students on the environmental impact of litter and encourage discussion around how to reduce waste.
  • There are a series of lesson plans and worksheets available, as well as a presentation slide deck, a quiz, a word search and a game.

Teacher in Perth Compressed

 

How IWM Supports the Cause

As big advocates for the protection of our environment, Instant Waste Management (IWM) have been collaborating with Keep Australia Beautiful WA for a number of years.

This year, we will continue to support Keep Australia Beautiful by raising awareness about the importance of proper recycling and waste management solutions.

IWM contributes to waste removal and recycling year-round and, as a result, we are one of the leading waste removal companies in Australia. Waste matters to us; so our team works hard to manage the three main waste categories – construction and demolition waste (C&D), commercial and industrial waste (C&I) and municipal solid waste, also known as general household and recycling waste (MSW).

We have invested in a state-of-the-art material recovery centre, where we sort through and recycle as much waste as possible.

We also run a number of educational initiatives and will be participating in the next Seaside Scavenge event in October.

 

Keeping Australia Beautiful, 24/7

Perth City Skyline from East Compressed 1

 

Although the KAB Week initiative will make a big impact on the effects of littering, it’s important to keep up the momentum and contribute to positive waste removal solutions on a regular basis – not just during KAB Week.

Leading to a rise in pollution and global warming emissions, the environmental consequences of litter are staunch. Litter can also have a devastating impact on local wildlife, causing injury or even death from entanglement, choking or ingesting contaminated water.

If we want to become a more sustainable and environmentally-responsible community, we must all do our part – and this is an ongoing process.

So, let’s fight to keep Australia beautiful, 24/7!

If you’re interested looking for an environmentally-responsible waste management provider, contact our professional team today. Alternatively, if you’re looking to hire a residential skip bin, please use our easy online booking system.