In October, BDEC took part in the annual Tangaroa Blue WA Beach Clean Up by organising two events in Busselton and Dunsborough. Volunteers from all across WA took part by choosing a stretch of coastline and cleaning up all rubbish in the area, including the rivers, waterways and pathways that surround the beach.

In Busselton we covered the stretch of beach from Mill Road Carpark to Dolphin Road Carpark as well as the footpaths. In Dunsborough we covered from Elmore Road lagoon on the Dunsborough foreshore to Old Dunsborough Boat Ramp.

We were pleased to find the beaches relatively clean, but still managed to remove 5 bags of litter across the 2 events, the majority of the litter was food packaging and plastics.

Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to take part and braved the changeable weather.

Special thanks to our volunteer Lucy for organising the events.

BDEC & City of Busselton Collaborate for Boomerang Bag project with young people
4 October 2016; 2.00pm – 4.00pm at Busselton Skate Park, 1 Scout Rd, Busselton

The project was aimed at young people to paint on recycled calico bags (bags donated from the National Youth Week, provided by CoB) and turn them into Boomerang Bags. Each participant was asked to paint two bags – one to keep and one to give away. We have collected the ‘give-away’ bags to donate to Pricey’s IGA in Busselton, as they are the only plastic-free grocery shop in Busselton.  

A total of approximately 40 bags were painted and decorated by children and youth, with 27 bags collected for donation. It was a very windy and cloudy day and the skate park was not overly busy.

What are Boomerang Bags?
Boomerang Bags ‘communities’ are groups of volunteers who get together to make reusable bags regularly for the wider community to use. People can either make bags solo, join a nearby Boomerang Bags community, start a community of their own, or simply get together with friends to make a few bags over a cuppa.

Special thanks to:
-    Silke Rothkamm – Project Officer BDEC
-    Denny Sansbrook – BDEC volunteer
-    Keeley Milner - Youth Development Trainee from the City of Busselton
-    City of Busselton
-    Boomerang Bags Dunsborough

Wildlife Awareness at Freaky Friday

Over the long weekend, BDEC organised a ‘Wildlife Theme’ for the City of Busselton’s Freaky Friday event at Geographe Leisure Centre. Freaky Friday is a monthly pool party for kids aged 10 – 13 with plenty of fun-filled games, prizes, music and water inflatables.

Our wildlife theme helped to inspire and educate the children on native fauna in the area and they were able to interact with two Pythons, two Bobtails and a Western Ringtail Possum. Approximately 40 children took part in BDEC’s quiz, learning to distinguish native wildlife from feral animals, their habitats and diets and the children were encouraged to talk about their experiences with wildlife.

A Possum mascot provided additional fun and entertainment to the pool party.

Special thanks to Silke Rothkamm, Angela Griffin, Uta Wicke, Jess Berry and Nora Stelter for your great work running the event.

Click here to view the 'Caring for Reptiles South West' facebook page