As part of Sea Week, each year level at Taipa Area School was given the responsibility of cleaning up a specified area of beach. Each student was given a pair of gloves, and bags were distributed evenly to all the students. Well, because bags were in such short supply, all the students were placed in groups of four and each group was allocated one bag each. The clean-up lasted for approximately 3 hours.

We thoroughly scoured the beaches around Doubtless Bay picking up rubbish, and although it was a lengthy time we were down there, it was worth all of the effort. We stood near the trailer full of rubbish – recycled into the four major groups, i.e.: glass, plastic, paper and metal – and admired our effort. We, justifiably, felt a sense of pride in ourselves.

During the litter collection, an array of treasures were found: rope, beer bottles and tops, wine glasses, rotting fish bones gutted and filleted right there on the beach, fishing line, hooks, sinkers, cigarette butts, car parts and tyres, an assortment of chip/lolly/chocolate wrappers, and the greatest treasure of all – the rotting corpses of 5 ‘deceased penguins’ of the little blue protected variety. Those with weak stomachs are not suited for such clean-up duties, as the lingering smell of decaying seaweed proved to one student, who almost lost the contents of hers.

On our arrival back from the various beaches, each student received a sausage and a drink courtesy of the school. For all our effort, we were all given time to reflect on our day, as all the students were involved in fun beach-related activities for the remainder of it. As one of the few schools with a beach on our doorstep, we further gained an understanding of how important it is to keep our beaches clean for all of our community to enjoy.