Brimbank local Neil Sgroi gathers a group of volunteers once a month to keep the streets of Maribyrnong clean.
Founder of the Maribyrnong River Rubbish Club, Neil said he came up with the idea for the project after attending the South Melbourne beach patrol five and a half years ago.
“I thought it was a great idea, and I thought it was something that was really needed in the Maribyrnong area,” he said.
Neil said each event attracts between 30 to 40 volunteers who range from a variety of ages.
“We are very happy with that number, It would be difficult to manage if we had too many more people turning up.
“We have everyone from families with small children coming, through to retirees and everything in between.”
The event is co-run with organiser Sanda, every month throughout the year, advertised through meetup and Facebook.
“We generally run on the second Saturday of each month and we normally start from the Footscray wharf area.
“We get together as a big group and have a chat about our aims for the day as we usually end up with half regulars, half new people.
“It is really about getting together and meeting like minded people in the community.”
Following the debrief , Neil said the group goes about collecting as much rubbish as they can along the riverbank area.
Neil said they average collecting 70 to 80 kilos of rubbish , although this March they hit their record of 201 kilos.
“It was horrifying because that was done in a 90 minute cleanup period.
“I encourage people to take responsibility of their own local area, even if they’re not the cause of the litter.”
Jennifer Pittorino
