Eco barge lends a hand

4th February 2010

ECO Barge volunteers were back at it again on Monday, cleaning up the mess left by the king tides and strong winds from the weekend.

Eco Barge, a marine clean up operation led by Whitsunday resident Libby Edge, cleaned up six cubic metres of marine debris off Cannonvale Beach with the help of volunteers.

Libby was very grateful that the Whitsunday Regional Council called on her service to help clean up after the wild weather.

“Whitsunday Regional Council helped get the eco barge services to clean marine debris off Cannonvale Beach,” she said.

“I think that’s big on their part.”

Libby said that the majority of the marine debris that was collected on Monday was small plastics and cigarette butts. “Easily 1000 cigarette butts,” she said.

“It was just unbelievable.”

According to Libby the affect of the weekend’s big seas will create more debris over the coming weeks, and residents can lend a hand in cleaning up.

“Help keep our local beaches clean,” she said.

The next eco barge trip will be sponsored by Tangaroa Blue Ocean Care Society on Monday, which will be a workshop to educate volunteers on how to collect the marine debris data.

For more information on the Eco Barge operations, contact Libby Edge on 0417 642 815 or log onto www.ecobargeservices.com/ to register as a volunteer.