Keep Australia Beautiful Annual Report 13/14 by Keep Australia Beautiful

Keep Australia Beautiful National A YEAR IN REVIEW 2013 2014

Contents Patron, Chair, CEO 4 Vision, Mission, Objectives, Volunteers 6 Thank You for Keeping Australia Beautiful 8 National Litter Index 10 Keep Australia Beautiful Week 12 Do the Right Thing 14 The LITTLE Committee 15 Eco-Schools Australia 16 Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants 17 Keep Australia Beautiful ACT 18 Keep Australia Beautiful Western Australia 19 Keep Australia Beautiful Northern Territory 20 Keep Queensland Beautiful 21 Keep New South Wales Beautiful 22 Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria (Sustainability Victoria) 23 Keep Australia Beautiful Tasmania 24 KESAB environmental solutions (Keep South Australia Beautiful) 25 Sustainable Communities Awards Programs 26 ACT Sustainable Cities 27 Australian Tidy Towns 28 Australian Sustainable Cities 29 Australian Clean Beaches 30 Sustainable Communities Awards Winners tables 31 How can I help? 33 Staff 34 Looking Forward 35 Supporters 36 The KAB Network 37 Financials 38

Chair

Patron As of February 2014, we are proud to welcome our new patron of Keep Australia Beautiful, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth Of Australia. We look forward to sharing an ongoing partnership with His Excellency and his office.

I was appointed Chair in November 2013, and within that time have seen the continual improvements in Keep Australia Beautiful National programs – Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches. Well done to our 2013 winners Sheffield Tasmania, City of Marion South Australia, and Currumbin in Queensland. It cannot be understated that so much of the work we see is from the community, often volunteers – who utilise the Beverage Container Recycling Grants to roll out local infrastructure in public places to divert waste from landfill, and those who live and work within these areas and participate in our awards programs to progress towards a more beautiful neighbourhood. During Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2013 the theme was Littering is Wrong Too, where we learnt what was as “wrong” as littering – like blowing out the candles on someone else’s birthday cake. And we became the Australian operator for EcoSchools, an international environmental accredited education program. The commitment from KABNA staff has been an inspiration – they strive towards our vision, and inspire those they work with. I congratulate CEO Peter McLean who celebrates his 10th year with the organisation, and I look forward to another year to further my relationship with the organisation, with our dedicated state and territory member network, governments, our existing sponsors, as well as diversifying our funding streams so that we can endure in a litter free and sustainable future.

Robert Thomas

Chief Executive Officer Keep Australia Beautiful has experienced a very successful year in 2013/14, we have seen a variety of outstanding program achievements, new programs launched as well as a new constitution and legal entity as a company limited by guarantee. I’d also like to thank the organisation’s Chair, Robert Thomas who smoothly transitioned into the position in late 2013, and the former Chair Don Chambers for his invaluable time and commitment to KAB over more than a decade. A further highlight for this year was selection by the international Foundation for Environmental Education to become the representative organisation for Australia, Keep Australia Beautiful was honoured to accept this role and decided to begin by rolling out the international Eco-Schools program. This opportunity will allow KAB to bring best practice learning and programs into Australia and offer stronger collaboration and networking with over 60 other countries globally. The initial focus will be schools who can prosper significantly from such a global learning environment. Our award programs continued to set new benchmarks in sustainability, we were very proud to announce Sheffield, City of Marion, and Currumbin as our Australian Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beach winners respectively. Keep Australia Beautiful Week encouraged the Australian public to Write their Wrongs – in which they equated what was as wrong as littering over social media. We also released the annual National Litter Index in August, which showed once again, cigarette butts were the most commonly littered item. For the

third consecutive year, Victoria was the least littered State in Australia, and we applaud their ongoing holistic programs and activities on litter prevention for over a decade. Through these actions and many more, we again saw a further reduction in Australia’s average litter count by almost 8.9% by item and 2.6% by volume per 1000m² since last year. This represents the 5th year of continual downward trend. I’d also like to acknowledge the wonderful community volunteers and passionate advocates for Keep Australia Beautiful. I’m always inspired and energised whenever I get the opportunity to visit community volunteers and groups. I’ve particularly enjoyed witnessing this at various schools across the country and one example is Harrington Park Public School in NSW. This school is leading the way in best practice, their culture of sustainability throughout the school community is infectious, and there is no doubt the positive legacy this will leave on students as they grow up into environmentally responsible adults. Keep Australia Beautiful is an amazing organisation and I look forward to leading it further into its evolving structure and as the premier thought and practice leader for litter prevention and sustainability action in Australia. There are many opportunities currently being developed in collaboration with all of our supportive and enthusiastic stakeholders across the KAB network, community, government and industry. We look forward to bringing these to fruition in 2014/15 which will be another busy and exciting year. Peter McLean

Vision Recognised as Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independent litter prevention thought and practice leader.

Mission A litter free and sustainable Australia.

Objectives - to lead, influence and advocate for environmental sustainability - to honour achievement in environmental endeavour - to provide support through education, innovation, engagement and research - to deliver effective partnerships and programs ensuring mutually beneficial environmental outcomes

Volunteers

The Keep Australia Beautiful Network awards programs identify, acknowledge and promote the efforts of hundreds of thousands of community, business and government volunteers around the country each year. Our volunteers contribute an estimated $22,202,850 dollarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of volunteer labour to the Australian community each year.

Who we are

Photo: Alice Morgan, Stacey Passey, Stephanie Bennett, Peter McLean

Keep Australia Beautiful is the national peak body on litter prevention. With over four decades of experience in engaging Australians to care for their local environments, our Programs include Sustainable Cities, Tidy Towns, Clean Beaches, EcoSchools, recycling grants, Keep Australia Beautiful Week in August, and the National Litter Index which is Australia’s only independent nation-wide litter research. Our programs target litter, recycling, packaging waste and environmental sustainability behaviour change. Keep Australia Beautiful’s mission is for a litter free and sustainable Australia. It does this through its own operations that can act as an example to others and through its programs that have the potential to reach all Australians. Keep Australia Beautiful National Association Ltd (KABNA) is a not-for-profit public company limited

by guarantee with DGR status, and has programs operating in every state and territory through federation members. Each of these programs encourages people all around Australia to care for their local environment. Keep Australia Beautiful was established during 1968 in Victoria by Dame Phyllis Frost. Keep Australia Beautiful National Association Ltd has a proud history in working in partnership with community, government and industry to achieve positive environmental outcomes. KABNA is very well known for promoting litter prevention and reduction activities in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. This was achieved through numerous television advertising campaigns and community activities and resulted in a cultural shift as to how all Australians viewed litter and the environment.

Thank you for keeping Australia beautiful

673

programs

awards programs applicants

1,752 category submissions

1,355

community groups cooperated

452 8

councils engaged with

431

business worked with

1,931 schools participated

600,369 students collaborated

888,114 volunteer hours

48,338 volunteers gave their time

65,031

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved

National Litter Index

The National Litter Index (NLI) 13/14 is released to coincide with Keep Australia Beautiful Week every year. Since the start of the NLI 9 years ago, an overall 27% reduction in items and 32.6% reduction by volume have been achieved.

The purpose of the National Litter Index is to provide insight regarding:

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Victoria is once again the least littered state in Australia for the third consecutive year.

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Tasmania had the largest reduction in one year, with a 22% decrease in litter.

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Cigarette butts continue to be the biggest feature in the index, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the total number of items per 1,000m2.

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The presence of litter items at anonymous but consistent sites year on year within broadly comparable regions. Estimated volumes of litter objects within the litter stream, based upon a volume-per-item model. The contribution of objects recognised within established main material types to the overall litter stream. The most significant contributors to the litter stream – the ‘Dirty Dozen’.

NLI counts are conducted in November and May each year over 983 sites. These sites are divided into eight site types: • • • • • • •

Beaches Car Parks Highways Industrial Recreational Parks Residential Retail, and Shopping Centres.

All litter items counted were incorporated within seven main material type categories: • • • • • • •

Cigarette butts Glass Illegal dumping Metal Miscellaneous Paper/ paperboard Plastic.

The overall average number of items per 1,000m² across all 983 sites surveyed in the 2013/14 National Litter Index was 51 (a decrease from 56) while the overall average estimated volume per 1,000m² was 5.97 litres (a decrease from 6.13). Cigarette butts continue to be the biggest feature in the index, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the total number and volume of items per 1,000m2. While the overall results are encouraging, stronger collaboration between community groups, government and industry is required to deliver better litter outcomes.

Australian Packaging Covenant Chief Executive Officer Stan Moore said it was pleasing to see litter improvements across the country.

“The Keep Australia Beautiful

National Litter Index is an important component of a best practice approach that provides regular measurement of our progress towards the goal of reducing litter” - APC CEO, Stan Moore

Top Five Items Collected Per 1,000m2: Cigarette butts – 23 items Uncategorised paper/paperboard objects – 8 items Uncategorised plastic objects – 5 items Plastic food containers and utensils – 4 items Uncategorised metal objects – 3 items

The NLI is the only national, annual benchmark of litter. The NLI is funded by all State/Territory Governments and the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC). The NLI Summary report is located on our website at kab.org.au/litter-research

Write your Wrong: Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2013 The public call to action targeted young tech-savvy adults asking them to ‘Write your Wrong’ as part of a ‘Littering Is Wrong Too’ initiative (based on a Keep America Beautiful campaign).

It took a light-hearted approach to get attention and be talked about, the campaign inextricably linked littering with wrongdoing. Think ‘Texting During Surgery’ ‘Finding Your Grandparents’ ‘Love’ tape’ ‘Your best mate becoming your step-dad’ ‘Networking during funerals’…

The week (19 – 25 August 2013) launched with street teams around the country along with NOVA radio – in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. People could also enter their ‘wrong’ on a dedicated website. The most original, quirkiest, humorous entry selected each week over five weeks received a cash prize of $500 and featured on KABNA’s Instagram and other social media.

The weekly competition winners and their ‘wrongs’ were: Week 1: Kellie Scott (VIC) Having twins and forgetting who is who Week 2: Allison Troth (VIC) Asking your mother-in-law if she’s considered Botox Week 3: Ashleigh Winnell (SA) Miley Cyrus and the video music awards Week 4: Steve Bryce (WA) When your grandmother has a date … and you don’t Week 5: Cheryl Eisenhauer (WA) Blowing out the candles on somebody else’s birthday cake

Out of all of the environmental issues we currently face, litter is the one problem we can all take personal action on to make an immediate difference. Reducing litter is not just about making our public places look better. It helps protect wildlife, reduce public health and safety issues and has a financial impact. By engaging people in a fun way with this campaign, we hoped to reinforce the message that littering is totally unacceptable and just plain wrong. Australian personalities supporting the campaign include The Mole host Shura Taft; Actor Paul O’Brien; Musical Theatre Star Christie WhelanBrown; 18 year old Porsche Carrera Racing driver Renee Gracie; Big Brother’s Mike Goldman; Fox Sports Presenter Tiffany Cherry. The Hungry Jack’s ‘Bag it and Bin it’ program was Principal Sponsor of Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2013.

Audience 5,161,164 13

Do The Right Thing This program has been running since the 80’s with a successful ad campaign on littering. Australians have set an example to the rest of the world when it comes to recycling and reducing litter. We are now one of the world’s leading recyclers with a very low litter rate per capita. Throughout Australia more than 180 towns and cities are taking the Do The Right Thing message to their communities. The results have been amazing. Since 2005 we have reduced litter by 31% in volume and 20% by item.

Australia is now on the way to becoming a sustainable low litter nation and it’s down to your contribution and action that this has become a possibility.

The highly successful Do The Right Thing anti-litter campaign has proven to be the strongest litter prevention message since it was implemented, leading to a 70% reduction in litter in NSW between 1979 and 1990. Today Do The Right Thing is stronger than ever, with more than 80% of people recognising that Do The Right Thing means put your rubbish in the bin. dotherightthing.com.au

The LITTLE Committee

Photo: Amelia Warde, NSW. Some rights reserved by Conor Quinn

The LITTLE Committee stands for the Leading Integrated Taskforce Tackling Litter Everywhere and was an initiative developed through a partnership between the Australian Packaging Covenant and Keep Australia Beautiful to reduce littering by 10% over 5 years.

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The LITTLE Committee achieved 5% of media for Keep Australia Beautiful during 13/14.

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On 22 February the NSW representative Amelia Warde spoke at TEDxManly. The TEDx Program is designed to help communities, organisations and individuals to spark conversation and connection through local TED-like experiences. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.” It supports independent organisers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community. Her attendance and her YouTube video has been widely mentioned and retweeted.

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Television campaign Random Acts of Tidiness ran across many metro and regional areas in Australia across the Christmas holiday break, achieving 702 airplays.

Since the program launched in 2011 litter in Australia has reduced by 16.4% by item and 8% by volume (according to the National Litter Index). The LITTLE Committee campaigns such as Why Do Adults Litter? and Random Acts of Tidiness helped to make this happen. The committee is made up of young adults under fifteen from all across Australia. This age group is statistically the least likely of all Australians to litter.

Eco-Schools Australia

Photo: Harrington Park Public School

The world became more beautiful with the launch of the Eco-Schools program in Australia. On the 20th anniversary of the program running globally, The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) welcomed Australia on board. Australia is the 55th country to launch Eco-Schools â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and National operator Keep Australia Beautiful are thrilled to be rolling out the program with federation members. Keep Australia Beautiful was selected by FEE as the national operator for Australia in October 2013. The launch for the program took place on 21 May at Harrington Park Public School in NSW, Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first registered participant.

The Eco-Schools program is student led, curriculum based learning which is undertaken through a

7 steps framework. Registered Eco-Schools can then apply for awards, the Bronze, Silver, and Green Flag. For the first year of operation, Eco-Schools Australia will be piloted in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Schools looking for more information can head to the Eco-Schools Australia website at eco-schools. org.au The principal sponsor for Eco-Schools Australia is the Australian Packaging Covenant. Eco-Schools Australia is also sponsored by The Danks Trust and The Wrigley Company.

Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants Our Beverage Container Recycling Grants, funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola South Pacific (The Community Grants) provide financial support and guidance to individuals, communities and organisations for the implementation of projects which make long term impacts on the recycling of beverage containers. These Community Grants resource practical steps which encourage and facilitate “Out & About” recycling programs in Australia at a local community level, provide education on the correct disposal of waste, provide education on cause and effects of recycling, and enforce best practice principles in our communities. $442,121.60 in grants was distributed to 71 communities and councils across Australia. The program started in April 2013 and concluded February 2014. The Beverage Container Recycling Grants Program 2013 has enabled Keep Australia Beautiful to continue assisting communities at the grass roots level. The program will directly benefit thousands of people across the country for years to come - keeping communities clean and recovering materials that would otherwise go to landfill.

“We are over the moon with the Keep Australia Beautiful Grant. We now have the ability to recycle 20,000 items annually, and have been able to reduce the cost of our waste collection. As a not for profit community club there was no way we could have initiated this program without your assistance.” - Surfers Paradise Rugby Club

Total bins installed 1,067 Total Beneficiaries 1,012,911 Each year, the projects funded in 2013 will recycle at least 397 tonnes 736 tonnes diverted from landfill over 5 years

Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Capital Territory

Photo: St Mary MacKillop College

Sustainable Cities continue to maintain a strong presence in the ACT, having run for 9 years. The campaign to eradicate the threat posed by Indian Mynas on the territory’s native wildlife began with the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group – who took home the Sustainable Cities title.

our network

KAB ACT received 39 category submissions for the awards, with 21 applicants to the awards. The territory saw 2 successful recipients for the Beverage Container Community Recycling Grants: St Mary MacKillop College Isabella Campus, as well as the Wann Campus. Each campus diverted 1.6 tonnes from landfill, making a combined result of 3.2 tonnes. KAB ACT look forward to being able to roll out the anticipated Eco-Schools program into the territory, as already enthusiastically displayed by our Cities Award winners and grant recipients - a great deal of outstanding eco projects are already taking place in the nation’s capital.

As our city grows to a population of 500,000, it is becoming increasingly important for us to address the challenges of creating a resilient and responsive place for all Canberrans as we move into the 21st century. The Sustainable Cities Award categories this year provide the opportunity for the dedication and creativity of groups and individuals in the ACT engaged in a variety of activities to be recognised and promoted amongst our community and at a National level. - Patron, Katy Gallagher MLA, Chief Minister

Keep Australia Beautiful Council Western Australia In the final year of the 2009 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2014 Litter Prevention Strategy for Western Australia, KABWA continued to maintain and implement litter prevention activities under seven key areas of priority: auditing and evaluation; policy and legislation; education, information and training; enforcement; physical intervention; and stakeholder responsibility. Clean up kits were provided to 430 Adopt-a-Spot groups and 39 one-off community clean-ups and thousands of Outback Packs were distributed to travellers State-wide. Collapsible bins and bags were distributed to sports clubs and many thousands of car litter bags, orange roadside litter bags and reusable shopping bags have been distributed throughout the community. A major project was undertaken in conjunction with Main Roads WA to measure the effect of signage on roadside litter on Mitchell Freeway. Analysis of the data suggests that signage has an effect on roadside litter with some sites showing a reduction in the number of items of litter of up to 40%. Through the Litter Prevention Grants and Beverage Container Recycling Grants $65,684 was distributed to the Western Australian community. Major projects supported included the Shire of Manjimup recycling trailer, establishing comprehensive

recycling facilities at the University of Western Australia, and the Tangaroa Blue WA Beach Clean Up. The Litter Reporter Scheme now has over 8,500 reporters with 5,000 litter reports being submitted in 2013-14. KABWA investigated 152 illegal dumping events, with 30 infringements issued along with 15 warnings or Environmental Field Notices, as well as 14 prosecution briefs. There are now 450 schools which are part of the Clean Schools program. There were 47 clubs involved in the Clean Clubs program. The Clean Marine campaign partnered with the Swan River Trust on a Fishing Line Bin project and a Bin Your Butt program provided information and personal ashtrays to reduce cigarette butt litter in public areas in the Perth Central Business District. Walpole was awarded the State title in the 2013 Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities program and was successful in winning the Environment Innovation and Protection Award as well as the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention Award at the Australian Tidy Towns ceremony in Victor Harbor, South Australia. In 2014, Tidy Towns WA received 71 entries, with 21 of those nominations from Aboriginal communities.

Photo: Litter clean up and audit for Tangaroa Blue marine Debris Project at Woodman Point in Cockburn

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our network

Keep Australia Beautiful Council Northern Territory With such a small team, the top end have had a busy year! KAB NT have partnered up with MobileMuster to provide education in remote communities and set up mobile collection depots all over the territory. In response to the beach clean-up initiatives from Nhulunbuy, they are working with Timor and Indonesia to set up their own Keep Timor Beautiful and Keep Indonesia Beautiful, to help stop the immigration of waste on Australian shores. Between being one of the pilot state and territories to introduce the Eco-Schools program, KAB NT included a 4 star rating for their Tidy Towns. This linked into the territory tourism department to encourage visitors to aboriginal communities, where they can experience indigenous culture, and support the local economy through the creation of enterprise opportunities by buying art and other goods. The Northern Territory Beverage Container Recycling Grants, funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation (The Community Grants) provided financial support to help Territorians trial and implement Public Place waste Bins, Public Place Recycle Bins and special events bins within the City of Palmerston, East Arnhem Regional Council and Tiwi Islands Regional Council communities.

KAB NT also ran projects alongside correctional services, to upskill young indigenous people. This included replanting for remote communities to provide bush tucker, fruit, and other trees to attract native animals. The project also sorted waste

materials for the recovery of resources, ready for the recycling loop. A trial of compostable food containers and utensils is taking place in East Arnhem shire to help reduce landfill. KAB NT look forward to launching a mobile graffiti removal team to clean up defaced boulders and other local landmarks. Photo: MobileMuster introduced into remote communities

Keep Queensland Beautiful is waging a battle against litter that is a blight on the state, from coast to coast and town to town. Newly appointed CEO, David Curtin was tasked with the job to oversee the implementation of program reviews, a state wide volunteer and donor recruitment drive, develop an organisational five year strategy including a revenue plan for future growth, implement workplace policies and procedures and develop a state-of-the-art smartphone application and anti-litter campaign to improve Queenslandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dirty littering addiction. The last six months of the 2013/14 financial year, saw Queensland revamp its tired Tidy Towns and Clean Beaches awards into accreditation programs, awarding Councils; towns and beaches a 1 to 5 star rating for their cleanliness, environmental credentials and community spirit, as a renewed push to mobilise armies of men, women and children, along with businesses to take pride in their local communities.

Mundubbera was the first town awarded a star rating (3) in the new program, with Mayor Don Waugh and the Mundubbera community celebrating with a community open day, showcasing the towns culture, heritage and passion for the environment.

our network

Keep Queensland Beautiful

The flagship Tidy Towns program functioned as an iconic awards program for 44 years, however, this year the new accreditation system will recognise and reward the hard work occurring in every community across Queensland, not just category winners. Queensland was fortunate enough for Currumbin on the Gold Coast to be named Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cleanest Beach for 2013- this success has encouraged a drive for coastal towns to engage in the revitalised Clean Beaches accreditation. Accreditation opens up the opportunity for both towns and beaches to be recognised for their individual efforts by the wider community.

Photo: Mundubbera community sign

our network

Keep New South Wales Beautiful Beginning a year which introduced significant change into our organisation, KNSWB moved into a new office in Newtown, opened by the Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore on 1 July. The new premises soon underwent a facelift when we rebranded to a new identity as Keep NSW Beautiful in January, signifying a fresh approach for the organisation while returning to our strategic goals as the antilitter organisation of NSW. Devoting resources towards collaborative strategy development in litter reduction was the next step in fulfilling this remit, in our inaugural KNSWB Congress: Less Litter, Live Better. The Congress drew together delegates and speakers from across the country and abroad. Thirty presentations including workshops and interactive panel discussions comprised Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first symposium focused solely on litter reduction and resulted in a toolkit of tactics and ideas for all presenters, while setting the stage for further developments on the theme in Congress as an annual event.

The new Premier of NSW, The Hon Mike Baird MP, took over Presidency of our organisation in April, and has since been an active member of our network, supporting our organisation and fostering the strong partnership with NSW government which our organisation has always enjoyed, along with the recently appointed Environment Minister, the Hon Rob Stokes MP. Honouring the enduring tradition of Awards Programs in NSW communities, we continued Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches, and saw the small town of Nundle, the City of Canada Bay, and Fingal Head awarded the Overall Title in each of these respectively. The three state winners then went on to represent NSW in the KAB National award programs. Our other programs included Community Litter Grants, run in partnership with the NSW EPA, and our environmental education program, EnviroMentors, who deliver sustainable education to almost 40,000 students in 365 schools.

Photo: Clean Beaches Awards

Sustainability Victoria

our network

Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria

staff to celebrate and then have great chats over a cup of tea and a home-made scone or sandwich.

Each year our regional presentations for the Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities awards celebrate and recognise the outstanding work of hundreds of humble volunteers across Victoria. The people we meet at these events rarely start a sentence with ‘I’ and always tell us about the work that someone else is doing. These presentations, for all entrants and finalists, are one of our favourite ways to thank and recognise these wonderful community members for the work they do to make Victoria the beautiful state it is. Each event provides the opportunity for each finalist to speak about the work carried out on the project, receive a framed certificate, often get photographed for the local press and sometimes take the crowd for a look at their project. The events bring together volunteers, schools, councillors, mayors and council

At the 2013 KABV Tidy Towns awards, the small farming community of Wycheproof in north western Victoria demonstrated the community spirit that saw them win the title in 2012. Given the size of the township – 684 residents - facilities for running gala events are somewhat limited. We started with the stunning art deco Buloke Shire Hall and a team of passionate volunteers from WycheVision who embodied Dame Phyllis herself with their can-do attitude. Nearly everything else, we had to bring in. The town’s population grew by more than 25% over the weekend with 170 visitors coming along. There was one motel with 16 rooms and such was the enthusiasm from around regional Victoria that people were prepared to stay in towns located over ½ hour away to join Wycheproof in the celebration of Tidy Towns. It was a fabulous night with people marvelling about what a small group of volunteers and Sustainability Victoria’s KABV team had achieved to highlight their very small town. Photo: Campaspe, Victoria

Keep Australia Beautiful Tasmania Keep Australia Beautiful in Tasmania is a non government community organisation that is supported by the State and local governments and industry. We run strong anti-litter campaigns, and provide sustainability educational programs. Our major activity is the Sustainable Communities Awards Program. This includes awards for Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities, Clean Beaches and Sustainable Schools. This program is popular with all communities in Tasmania. The Sustainable Schools awards have increased significantly in recent years. Our 2013 Tidy Towns winner, Sheffield was awarded the National Title at Victor Harbor in April. An excellent result for a small rural town.

our network

The City of Launceston was the winner of our Sustainable City Award, and Godfreys Beach won the Clean Beach Award.

This year, KAB in Tasmania has embarked on an ambitious plan to introduce Eco-Schools across the state. We have gained the support of the Tasmanian Education Department and we are working with the Ed. Dept. Sustainability Learning Centre to promote and support those schools that undertake the EcoSchools program. We look forward to our continued work in to the next year, with the support of Lion. We have engaged with the Boagâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brewery and Launceston City Council with the Adopt-a-Patch program. This has led to Boagâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s employees undertaking beautification works along the banks of the North Esk River in Launceston. This will be an ongoing program. Photo: Schools awards winners

KESAB environmental solutions Keep South Australia Beautiful KESAB environmental solutions is an inaugural Member of KABNA. This year marked 48 years of KESAB working with the South Australian community facilitating litter reduction and environmental sustainability initiatives through local action. KESAB scope of programs is broadly based, responding to contemporary community engagement by developing and implementing high standard curriculum based education PD teacher and student packages and resource materials, litter reduction campaigns, Butt Free Australia, Clean Site, Wipe Out Waste, Litter Less, Road Watch and NRM Education. KESAB has a strong focus working with remote indigenous communities.

To meet new community interface has required KESAB to design new communications and interactive education resources. Working with Dept. Education our skilled and experienced teaching staff are recognised as leaders in their profession aligning KESAB programs with National Curriculum standards. The support and input of corporate partners during the year is greatly appreciated. Photo: Organics recycling program conducted by KESAB, Port Adelaide Enfield Council and Zero Waste SA

KESAB undertakes social and litter count research projects in our ongoing effort to reduce the impact of litter pollution. Littering and illegal dumping continues to challenge councils and our focus to implement litter reduction strategies will ultimately reflect in less cost to maintain litter bin infrastructure and clean up.

During the year KESAB developed a skilled and trained waste auditing team undertaking a number of significant council and industry audits. Outcomes will assist identifying new strategies and education engagement to ensure South Australia continues leading the Nation through Zero Waste targets.

our network

KESAB engages thousands of teachers and students each year facilitated through PD sessions and incursions supported by the KESAB Wingfield Education Centre which is located at the coal face i.e; on a landfill site. Conducting community tours in partnership with local councils continues to evolve as residents seek to improve understanding and participation in waste diversion and recycling systems.

Sustainable Communities awards programs The Keep Australia Beautiful Network Awards programs are the foundation of the organisations’ community engagement and empowerment activities. Keep Australia Beautiful Network programs identify best practice projects achieved by communities, schools, councils, businesses and individuals and allow Keep Australia Beautiful to then communicate with stakeholders and engage them in a variety of grant, education, awareness and collaborative programs focused primarily on litter prevention. These award programs are collectively called the Sustainable Communities Awards program and include Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches. The Sustainable Communities Awards program has been operating in some states for over 30 years and due to this ongoing success, further programs were developed to suit metropolitan communities as well as National programs. Today these programs recognise best practice sustainability outcomes across all communities Australia wide. The Keep Australia Beautiful National Sustainable Communities Awards consist of: • •

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Sustainable Cities which became a national program in 2007 Tidy Towns which have been running nationally since 1991 Clean Beaches which has been running since 2008 nationally.

ACT Sustainable Cities 2013 was the 9th year that Keep Australia Beautiful ACT held the Sustainable Cities awards in the territory - which is all about recognising the efforts made by residents, community based organisations, businesses and local government agencies in achieving sustainability in the Australian Capital. The Canberra Indian Myna Action Group won the Keep Australia Beautiful, ACT Sustainable Cities Awards in 2013, they went on to win the Environmental Innovation and Protection award at the National Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards that same year. Before Bill started the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group Inc (CIMAG) in 2006, Mynas were the third most common bird in Canberra, where the birds were having catastrophic impacts upon the local

fauna. Over the 8 years of the community-action trapping and education program, CIMAG members have reduced mynas to the 20th most common bird around Canberra. Small birds are back in people’s gardens, Rosellas are back nesting in tree hollows and in garden nest-boxes, and there is peace from their raucous calls.

“The community, through the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group, has been the key to reducing myna numbers in the Canberra region with a wide-scale community-trapping program.”

- Director CIMAG, Bill Handke The Keep Australia Beautiful ACT Sustainable Cities Awards are an initiative of Keep Australia Beautiful National, sponsored by the Do The Right Thing program of the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum, and event sponsor ANUgreen.

sustainable communities awards programs

Australian Tidy Towns Not since 2007 has a Tasmanian town taken home the title of Australia’s Tidiest Town. Sheffield on Tasmania’s north-west coast did just that at the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Awards 2014. The announcement was made at the national awards ceremony in April, hosted by the 2013 overall winner, Victor Harbor in South Australia.

“The council’s self-check home energy audit kits were made available free of charge for residents to conduct a selfassessment of their household with a view to making changes to reduce energy use. Numerous residents have taken up the opportunity to reduce costs as well as reducing their environmental impact.”

- National Tidy Towns judge, Dick Olesinski

The two day awards event included highlights from National judge Dick Olesinski’s 20th year in judging the Australian Tidy Towns, as well as opportunities which allowed representatives the chance to share best practice information and network with likeminded professionals from around Australia. The Australian Tidy Towns Program recognises the hard work undertaken by rural and regional community groups, schools, businesses, individuals and councils, and showcases innovative ideas and initiatives that improve sustainability in our regional areas. 2014 marks 46 years of the Tidy Towns Awards in Australia, with Keep Australia Beautiful receiving 1300 initiatives nationally, from over 360 entrants across councils, shires, community groups, schools and individuals. The Australian Tidy Towns Awards were sponsored by the Do the Right Thing Program of the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum. Event sponsor was City of Victor Harbor, refreshments provided by LION.

Australian Sustainable Cities

The Award recognises City of Marion’s achievements in community and civic beautification, presentation, health, wellbeing and pride. It also recognises the partnerships between government, business, industry, and local community networks.

“These awards form part of an incredibly powerful project and impressive amount of community involvement goes into them. The City of Marion performed extremely well, and it was difficult to separate the finalists.” - National Sustainable Cities judge, Cameron Little

The awards allow for excellence in metropolitan sustainability projects around Australia to come together to share best practice, success, as well as challenges. Special guest for the awards was Josh Byrne from Gardening Australia. The Australian Sustainable Cities Awards encourage, motivate, and celebrate the local sustainability achievements of urban communities across Australia. The Australian Sustainable Cities Awards were sponsored by the Do The Right Thing program of the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum, and event sponsor City of Cockburn, WA. The Sustainable Cities 2013 trophy was hand carved and painted by Wez Champion of Loutky Puppets, using reclaimed wood.

sustainable communities awards programs

The crowning of the City of Marion as the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Sustainable City 2013 has been welcomed as a well-deserved win for the city, which saw the South Australian city Deputy Mayor David Speirs accept the award at an event in the City of Cockburn, WA in November 2013.

sustainable communities awards programs

Australian Clean Beaches The crowning of Currumbin as the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Clean Beach 2013 has been welcomed as a well-deserved win for the Queensland beach, which saw the Griffith Centre for Coastal Management accept the award at an event in the City of Cockburn, WA in November 2013. Currumbin faces the challenge of managing a large number of tourists, and in Currumbin this is done in a way that keeps a strong sense of community at the heart of things. As well as keeping Currumbin Beach free of litter, there is a real sense that the Currumbin community, including through its clubs and businesses, is finding ways to respond to longterm issues of sustainability and environmental management and has strong intergenerational connection that allow preservation and growth of local traditions.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Visiting the five national finalists and learning about all the fantastic work was a real privilege. I was really impressed by the time and effort contestants put into the submissions and site visits, and by the broad range of groups involved in keeping the beaches clean. In all of the five finalists, it was obvious that a special spirit emerges where a community has a strong and enduring connection to its local environment.â&#x20AC;? - National Clean Beaches judge, Averil Bones The awards allow for coastal and waterways sustainability projects around Australia to come together to share best practice, success, as well as challenges. The Clean Beaches program award communities who actively work for a cleaner, more sustainable coastal environment. Awards are presented to

volunteers, surf lifesaving clubs, local councils, and other community groups who implement initiatives that care for dunes, protect habitats, educate the community, reduce litter, and support tourism.

Sustainable Communities awards winners tables ACT Sustainable Cities Awards winners 2013 Winner

Commendation

Community Action, Partnerships and Culture

Canberra Indian Myna Action Group

ANUGreen Precincts Project

Environmental Stewardship

Canberra Indian Myna Action Group

The Friends of Aranda Bushland

Resource Recovery and Litter Prevention

ACTSmart Business and Office Program - Cleaner’s Initiative

Hawker Primary School P&C Fete

Environmental Advocacy and Innovation

2020 Vision: Imagining a Sustainable Canberra

Sustainable Buildings – Commercial

Australian National University Lena Karmel Lodge

Sustainable Buildings – Residential

MAG Construction + DNA Architects +Industrious Designs “Girasole”

Young Legends

Actew Water Giving to Our Source of Living

Wildcard

Digital Sustainability Outreach at Australian National University

Overall

Canberra Indian Myna Action Group Australian Tidy Towns Awards winners 2014