Welcome to BeachPatrol and Love Our Street

BeachPatrol schools program

Educating our students today will lead to a better tomorrow

Our schools program

Supporting environmental education in schools

BeachPatrol regularly visits primary and secondary schools. We host educational sessions focussing on plastic litter and its impact on the environment and marine life

We can also take students out on a beach or street litter survey experience. During these exercises the students work in small groups along the beach or street to record the litter count and type using BeachPatrol survey sheets.

At the end of the survey the sheets are collated and the students spend time categorising and documenting the litter picked up in that session. This provides a great opportunity for raising awareness and helps inform how to cut back on common problem waste items. 

Download our schools engagement brochure here.

 

Recent School Activities

Activity Date School Name School Grade No Students Event Desc Image
31 Oct 2023 SACRE COEUR College Sacre Coeur year 9 17

Seventeen students spent 45 minutes picking up litter and collected 14kgs of rubbish from Elm Rd in Glen Iris today.  They also did a full audit with a total of 744 items counted including 235 small soft plastic fragments, 107 small hard plastic fragments and 56 food wrappers.  This was the final of four cleans by the students done this year.  Thanks for helping stop this litter from getting into our waterways and possibly being ingested or entangling seabirds and other marine life. 

14 Sep 2023 The Lakes, South Morang Year 12 VCAL 7

On Thursday 14th September, students from the Year 12 VCAL class led a clean up around a local shopping strip and parkland bordering a wetland, Darius Terrace precinct, South Morang. Students had researched the impacts of plastic pollution on the environment, creatures and humans. They had also developed an understanding of the connections of overuse of plastics to the problem of climate change. They were really well-prepared, having determined a local litter hotspot and the safety tips we needed to follow. Student leaders had conducted trial clean ups and had practised data entry using the Litter Stopper app.

Overall, the students collected 21 kg of rubbish, including a shopping trolley dragged from the bank of the wetland. Most numerous were cigarette butts (almost 1000), drink bottles and cans (78) and food wrappers (77). In total, students removed and recorded almost 1500 items of litter and ensured this harmful waste was disposed of properly.

Fantastic planning and a great effort in their final week of secondary schooling. Congratulations to these young people - we need others to follow their lead.

22 Aug 2023 SACRE COEUR College 9th 12

In an hour, twelve students from Sacre Coeur help to remove 5.5kgs of rubbish from the Gardiners Creekcreek bed and surrounding area today.   Some of the items counted includd 90 large size fragments of soft plastic, 400 pieces of polystyrene, 11 plastic drink containers and 7 food wrappers.  This is the 3rd of 4 cleans conducted by the students this year.  Great team effort!! 

 

20 Jul 2023 Northcote High School Year 12 35

Two VCE Outdoor Education and Environment classes, 35 students in all, took on the task of clearing a lot if litter from a section of Merri Creek near their school. They powered through the job, removing 72 kg of rubbish, most of it still on the creek banks and up in the riparian vegetation where it had become entangled in the floods of October 17 2022, nine months ago!. 

Apart from bags full of soft plastics, plastic bottles and cans, students pulled out a folding sunlounge, an office chair, a "witch's hat" cone, golf balls, tennis balls, a soccer ball, and outside a building site they picked up dumped tapware and polypipe electrical conduit.

Fantastic effort by these young people. 

06 Jun 2023 Northcote High School Duke of Edinburgh Year 9 17

17 students came out today for a beach clean at St Kilda.   It was low tide and there had not been much rain in the past week which meant not much plastic rubbish washing around.  However, still a great effort with total weight over 6 Litter Stopper entries was 8 kg, and 270 categorised items plus non-plastic rubbish from this beach that had been freshly cleaned by council machines. 

30 May 2023 SACRE COEUR College Year 9 16

In 30 mins, these students cleaned along the Gardiners Creek banks, under the Solway Bridge, and collected 

400 large pieces polystyrene, 400 small pieces of polystyrene (estimate only), 60 pieces of foam

50 pieces of plastic (shredded bags/wrappers)

40 plastic bottles, 18 cans (many too dirty to recycle), 1 glass bottle

36 golf balls, 15 balls (tennis/ping pong)

10 plastic soy sushi fish

9 lids (coffee cups/drink bottle lids)

5 nerf gun bullets

2 spoon. 2 plates

2 masks

2 spray can

2 plastic straws

2 plastic take-away sauce packs

1 frisbee

1 tetra pack

1 coat hanger

1 number plate

Many hands make light work.

Thank you to 3145 Love Our Street and Love Our Street 3146 Glen Iris for co-ordinating and helping out on the day.

14 Mar 2023 SACRE COEUR College grade 9 16

After only 30 minutes along Saxby Road, Gardiners Creek, 16 students had collected 5kgs of rubbish, counting 370 pieces of litter.  This is the first of 4 cleans that will be conducted by the students this year.  Great to see these students caring for our environment. 

07 Mar 2023 Salesian College Year 10 14

13 students, cleaned in St Kilda, 3 glass, 4 plastic, 3 cans, Hard bits (small & large) = 102, Soft bits (small & Large )= 203

 

03 Mar 2023 Port Melbourne Primary 5,6,7 53

A total of 53 students from 4th, 5th & 6th grades for 30 minute clean at New Beach.  When asked the question Why would we want to pick up rubbish – their reply 'to keep the animals safe'!!

23 Feb 2023 Newman College 1st year University 22

A partial audit was conducted on what was collected: 36 glass bottles, 53 plastic bottles, 45 cans, 12 PPE/ masks, 42 straws, 86 bottle lids, 29 coffee cups/lids, 28 other cups/lids and over 1000  cigarette butts!