KABNA Annual Report 1415 by Keep Australia Beautiful

2014 / 2015 A YEAR IN REVIEW

Keep Australia Beautiful National Association

Photo credits: Cover: Richard Rydge, Surfers Byron Bay sunset, Flickr CC. Pg 4: Jordan, Mt. Osmond, Flickr CC. Pg 6: Indigo Skies Photography, We Have Transmission, Flickr CC. Remaining images supplied by KABNA and KAB Federation Network.

Contents From the Chair and Patron 2 The team 4 Our vision, mission, objectives and volunteers 5 Thank you for keeping Australia beautiful 6 Our programs National Litter Index 8 Keep Australia Beautiful Week 10 Litter Fighting Fund 11 Eco-Schools Australia 13 Adopt a Patch 14 Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants 16 The Keep Australia Beautiful federation network Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Capital Territory 17 Keep New South Wales Beautiful 18 Keep Australia Beautiful Northern Territory 19 Keep Queensland Beautiful 20 21 KESAB environmental solutions (Keep South Australia Beautiful) Keep Australia Beautiful Tasmania 22 Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria (Sustainability Victoria) 23 Keep Australia Beautiful Western Australia 24 Sustainable Communities awards programs 25 ACT Sustainable Cities 26 Australian Tidy Towns 27 Australian Clean Beaches 28 Australian Sustainable Cities 29 Sustainable Communities award winners tables 30 How can I help? 32 Staff 33 The KAB network 34 Supporters 35 Financials 36

Chair

Robert Thomas

It’s been another challenging year for Keep Australia Beautiful National Association; a difficult but rewarding one for me as Chair. The organisation continued to make inroads in its transformation from an association-based entity to a company limited by guarantee. The hard work of the Board and management team has overcome many of the transition sensitivities and there is a growing acceptance among most members of the benefits the transition will bring in future. The Board and management team will continue to improve communication and consultation throughout the coming financial year. In August 2015 we said farewell to our CEO Peter McLean, who had been with the Keep Australia Beautiful National Association for three years. I would like to thank Peter for his tireless endeavours in leading the organisation through its transition and focusing on delivering outcomes for members while taking a more commercial approach that will help secure independent financial sustainability. I extend a warm welcome to our newly appointed CEO, Philip Robinson. Philip has vast experience in leading local and global fast moving consumer goods businesses. This is a welcome addition to the experience and direction the Keep Australia Beautiful National Association has amassed over the years. I look forward to collaborating with Philip to further strengthen our partnerships and to develop new partnership and products that will drive the organisation forward.

We aim to be perceived as the thought leader on litter and its detrimental effects on our environment. A stronger brand, financial

sustainability, independence and a significantly diversified revenue base will enable us to provide better environmental education and awareness, and effect positive behavioural change. Our Sustainable Communities Programs continue to engage and celebrate communities at a grassroots level, and acknowledge the partnerships we have with local government, business and educational institutions. All this good work couldn’t have been carried out without the passionate and dedicated team of staff who live and breathe our vision. My heartfelt congratulations go to our Australian Clean Beaches winner, Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory. Toodyay in Western Australia took home the Australian Tidy Towns title, while the overall Australian Sustainable Cities winner, Brisbane City Council in Queensland, also showcased its success in Litter Prevention and Energy Innovation. As examples of best practice in tackling litter at a local level, all of these great sustainable solutions have been featured in the Litter Toolkit, which is available from KAB’s website. The Eco-Schools program pilot took the Northern Territory, Tasmania and New South Wales by storm with 159 registrations. The take-up was faster than many other countries’ that operate the program as part of the global Foundation for Environmental Education network. Adopt a Patch saw us partner with Lion Nathan to transform unloved patches of land – overgrown with weeds and strewn with litter – into little pieces of paradise for all of the community to enjoy.

Patron

His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) Our long-standing program, the Coca Cola Beverage Container Community Recycling Grants, distributed $439,265.74 in funding to 81 communities across Australia. Those communities are now recycling 590 tonnes of waste each year. We also continue to work positively with the Australian Government on our environmental agenda. I would like to thank the Federal Department of the Environment for their ongoing support of Keep Australia Beautiful National Association through a three-year funding arrangement and through the opportunity to engage in open and honest dialogue on environmental issues. I would also like to humbly thank our generous donors, particularly our new donors who have come to us through the Litter Fighting Fund. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this generosity from our members and supporters that allows us to continue working for a litter free and sustainable Australia. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the vision Keep Australia Beautiful National Association wants everyone to enjoy.

Governor-General of the Commonwealth Of Australia

As Patron of Keep Australia Beautiful it is a privilege to be involved with an organisation that has such a strong and unerring commitment to our environment. Australia is blessed with a unique and outstanding natural beauty, but it is a beauty than cannot be taken for granted, we need to do all we can to protect it and preserve it. Keep Australia Beautiful plays a big part in this by actively looking after our environment. I am so glad to see the people of Australia eager to get involved in their local towns, cities and neighbourhoods on so many environmental initiatives. I have enjoyed hearing from the Sustainable Cities participants, and seeing Keep Australia Beautiful launch their environmental education program Eco-Schools. A total of 159 schools signed up within the first year, and many took no time at all to begin working towards their Bronze, Silver and ultimately Green Flag accreditations. It will be a pleasure to share the journey with Keep Australia Beautiful as it contributes to our environment and our sense of pride in it.

The team

Peter McLean

Chief Executive Officer

Mika Lodsman

Administration and Programs Support Officer

Stacey Passey

Programs Manager

Deborah Richardson Bull Programs Manager

Keep Australia Beautiful is the national peak body on litter prevention. With over 45 years of experience in engaging Australians to care for their local environments, our Programs include Sustainable Cities, Tidy Towns, Clean Beaches, EcoSchools, Adopt a Patch, 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.

in every state and territory through member offices. Each of these programs encourages people all around Australia to care for their local environment. Keep Australia Beautiful was established in 1968 and is now a company limited by guarantee with deductible gift recipient status.

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.

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.

Keep Australia Beautiful National Association Ltd (KABNA) is a federated body with programs operating

Alice Morgan

Communications, digital, and brand delivery

Keep Australia Beautiful National Association has a proud history in working in partnership with community, government, and industry to achieve positive environmental outcomes.

Our vision A litter free and sustainable Australia.

Our mission Recognised as Australia’s independent litter prevention thought and practice leader.

Our 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

Our Volunteers Our 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 $20,243,050 dollars’ worth of volunteer labour to the Australian community each year.

Thank you for keeping Aust

1,698

Programs

Programs applicants

2,092 Category submissions

1,106

Community groups cooperated with

358 6

Councils engaged

290

Communities celebrated

167

Businesses worked with

tralia beautiful

1,927

118,390 Students collaborated

Schools participated

47,500

10,613

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people involved

Students environmental educators taught

20,582 Volunteers gave their time

809,722 Volunteer hours

Staff in the Federation network

(Some figures exclude Queensland.)

National Litter Index The National Litter Index (NLI) celebrated its 10th year of consecutive data, and is released to coincide with Keep Australia Beautiful Week every year. For the first time, the NLI also counted bin infrastructure, as well as graffiti. The overall average number of items per 1,000m² across all 983 sites surveyed in the 2014/15 National Litter Index was 49 (a decrease from 51) while the overall average estimated volume per 1,000m² was 5.74 litres (a decrease from 5.97). 2014 / 15 saw a reduction in litter by 3.9% in item, and 3.8% in volume nationally upon the previous year. While the overall results are encouraging, continuing collaboration between community groups, government and industry is required to deliver better litter outcomes. The Northern Territory and Tasmania saw an increase in both item count and volume, with Tasmania being the most littered state this year. 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. The NLI is the only national, annual benchmark of litter. The research is funded by the Australian Packaging Covenant; the Governments of NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT; and Keep Australia Beautiful Council Northern Territory.

The NLI Summary report is located on our website at kab.org.au/litter-research/

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

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’.

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

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

Top Five Items Littered Per 1,000m² 1.

Cigarette butts

2. Paper/paperboard 3. Plastic objects

4. Plastic food containers and utensils 5. Metal objects

Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2014 Butt Free Friday Once again, cigarette butts topped the list of the most commonly littered items in the National Litter Index. In response, Keep Australia Beautiful called for a national Butt Free Friday during Keep Australia Beautiful Week, which takes place during the last week of August each year. 2014 was the 10th anniversary of Keep Australia Beautiful Week, and Keep Australia Beautiful urged all Australian’s to help keep our beautiful country clean. As a country, we have improved and have decreased the amount of litter we’re dropping. But Australians still flick 20 million cigarette butts onto the ground every day. This adds up to 7 billion each year. We have a long way to go. 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. Cigarette butts are plastic and aren’t biodegradable which means they can take up to 10 years to break down. They pollute our waterways, our parks, our streets and our beaches, and are a danger to our wildlife. Cigarette butts reduced from 23 items per 1,000m22in the 13/14 NLI, to 22 items 1,000m2 in the 14/15 NLI.

The good news is that anyone can help with our littering prevention programs by supporting the new Litter Fighting Fund at litterfightingfund.org.au.

Audience for 2014 4,382,342 Australians

litterfightingfund.org.au Keep Australia Beautiful Needs You to Join the Fight! Despite more than 45 years of campaigning, shocking statistics have revealed that too many people are still littering, with Australians dumping almost 48 million litres of litter each year. In response Keep Australia Beautiful have launched the Litter Fighting Fund where all Australians can donate to directly fund litter reduction programs. Litter is one of the most serious environmental issues we face and we need a stronger army to battle it. Patriotic journalist Derryn Hinch lended his support to launch the Litter Fighting Fund and urged all Australians to generously support the cause. “We are lucky to live in such a beautiful country but we need to treat her with respect,” Mr Hinch said. The Litter Fighting Fund gives everyone the opportunity to contribute to litter prevention right across Australia, instead of volunteering they might want to put a few dollars into a fund that will activate holistic campaigns right across the country. We’re calling on everyone from corporate sponsors to community members, to help keep our country clean and start taking more pride in the environment.

Eco-Schools Australia Eco-Schools Australia reaches one year milestone One year on from the launch of Eco-Schools Australia by Keep Australia Beautiful in May 2014, 159 schools are registered around the country and eagerly working towards their Green Flags. Eco-Schools which is sponsored nationally by the Australian Packaging Covenant, is a global curriculum based 7-Step sustainable school framework and award accreditation program that enables schools to be recognised for their ongoing contributions to sustainability within the school and their local community. For the first year of operation, Eco-Schools Australia was piloted in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. The next phase of the environmental education program will be continue supporting these participants to implement the program and to achieve their action plan goals. Action plans are student-led and include targets such as reducing litter and waste, improving energy efficiency and completing school ground developments that support biodiversity and health. Additional schools will be welcomed to the program, which is inclusive of all Australian school communities. Existing green programs within registered schools, and newly developed ones via the school’s EcoCommittee work towards their Bronze, Silver, and finally the Green Flag, which is an internationally acknowledged symbol for environmental excellence. Bríd Conneely, International Eco-Schools Director at the Foundation for Environmental Education said, “Keep Australia Beautiful has had a fantastic year with the programme. We are overwhelmed with the outstanding achievements and involvement in Australia - they are progressing faster than many other countries. For me it’s a joy to click on the great website and see the number of Eco-Schools signed up steadily rising.”

2% of all Australian schools have registered 3 Local Government Areas have signed up all their schools 10% of Councils in Australia have at least one Eco-School 44 schools received a small grant towards their goals 140 environmental initiatives commenced 5 Bronze awards have been accredited Students and their local communities have been actively engaged in introducing improved waste management and recycling, expanding school gardens and including edible and indigenous plants, planting trees, holding Eco-Discos, speaking for the planet, and improving water and energy efficiency. The enthusiasm from students, teachers and principals has been exceptional, and helps give the program its momentum. We look forward to integrating Eco-Schools into local state programs that are already in place, and introducing an international element into environmental education in Australia. Eco-Schools aims to empower students to be the change our sustainable world needs by engaging them in fun, action-orientated learning and has been running for 20 years, now in over 59 counties with over 46,400 schools participating. The Principal sponsor for Eco-Schools Australia is the Australian Packaging Covenant. Eco-Schools Australia is also sponsored by the Department of the Environment, and Wrigley.

2 trees rescued - a jacaranda and a melaleuca Removed balloon vine, privet and many other weeds Laid 300m of turf and installed a tap for ongoing maintenance

Adopt a Patch Tooheys Brewery Lidcombe A littered plot of land that was overgrown with weeds has been turned into a clean, green space for the community to enjoy, thanks to Keep Australia Beautiful National Association in partnership with Lion. As part of the Adopt a Patch program, team members at Lion’s Tooheys Brewery in Lidcombe, New South Wales, completed initial works on their ‘patch’ at the corner of Parramatta Road and Nyrang Street, Lidcombe in June 2015. Work on the patch started in 2014 with the removal of litter and weeds and progressed to landscaping of the whole area. The team have been able to remove the temporary wire fencing that has been surrounding the site to reveal a neat grass lawn, brand new fencing along Haslam’s Creek and two thriving trees which were previously being strangled by weeds. The improvements also mean that native wildlife have returned to the area. The patch will now be maintained by a team of volunteers from the Tooheys Brewery to ensure it continues to thrive. Mark Toomey, Brewery Director at Tooheys said, “as a team, we are proud to see the patch significantly improve over the last few months, knowing that we’ve all played a part in it.

Installed new fencing along Haslam’s Creek to enable safe public access to the lawn and preventing litter blowing into the creek Installed a vehicle gate to allow ongoing maintenance and development of the patch Removed unsightly wire fencing and scruffy, unauthorised advertising signage Removed almost 2 tonnes of weeds Collected and removed 20 industrial rubbish bags of waste Laid 20 cubic metres of mulch along the creek bank

Auburn City Council Mayor Ronney Oueik said, “it’s fantastic to see local businesses like Lion getting behind Keep Australia Beautiful and the improvements already made to the patch are significant. We continue to pledge our support for this initiative and look forward to seeing the site continue to flourish in coming months.” The Keep Australia Beautiful Adopt a Patch program engages local communities and manufacturing sites to improve patches of community land on their doorstep. The program develops a sense of place by empowering local employees and communities to take action and improve their community spaces in line with local needs.

Adopt a Patch is a wonderful Lion initiative that connects us more as a team and helps us give back to the local community by beautifying our surroundings.” After

Before

Lion’s J Boag & Son Brewery Staff at Boag’s Launceston, Tasmania, earmarked a plot alongside the North Esk River that was overgrown with weeds and strewn with litter. This environmental eyesore was transformed into a little piece of paradise for all of the community to utilise. The Adopt a Patch project at Boag’s in Launceston included a clean up event during their annual community activities day on Friday 4 September. Approximately 12 staff made up the clean up team. Jerry Wylie, Operations Director at Boag’s Launceston said, “we all want to live and work in places we can be proud of so our team is very pleased to be joining Lion colleagues around Australia to Adopt a Patch in our local community.”

There was a high volume of plastic products – bags, wrappers, and bottles Many of the items appeared to have been in situ for some time Some sections, due to tidal changes, had much more rubbish than others Plastic bottles represented approximately 70% of the recovered waste Many polystyrene boxes had been left to break down into lots of small pieces of rubbish to pick up

Launceston City Council Mayor Albert van Zetten said Council have endorsed the project, “and will be on hand to advise and to help remove the rubbish that is collected, especially any hazardous waste that may be encountered.” The Adopt a Patch program is sponsored by Lion, one of Australia’s leading beverage and food companies. This project is part of Lion’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, and in particular to reducing litter in the communities surrounding Lion’s manufacturing sites.

After

Before

Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants $439,265.74 AUD in grants was distributed to 81 communities across Australia. The program started in April 2014 and concluded in February 2015. “It’s amazing what people can achieve with the right infrastructure. Providing bins for different types of waste and resource means that every item is carefully considered before it is defined as waste or resource - It’s Sorted project, Glamorgan, TAS

“The Beverage Container Recycling grant will help to solve the problem of littering of our roadsides and public places helping to keep Oberon a Spectacular place to live and visit. Recycling has become a daily way of life helping to reduce the impact of littering on our environment and the Oberon Community” - Mayor John McMahon, Oberon Council NSW

The Keep Australia Beautiful Beverage Container Recycling Community Grants, funded by The Coco-Cola Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company through their Community Grants project, 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. It is necessary for programs to include a focus on beverage container recycling. In larger communities this may mean temporary infrastructure for events or for new venues such as large retail or education centres. In smaller communities it may mean assistance with processing to overcome remote location or a dispersed population.

Percentage of grant funding allocated

Number of grants per state and territory

Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Capital Territory In its 10th year, the Sustainable Cities Awards have once again proven that the ACT is a place of environmental advocacy and innovation with 21 Award applicants across community groups, businesses, industry and government. Canberra Urban Honey took out overall winner in the 2014 awards for their dedication in increasing the number of bees in Canberra and highlighting the importance of bees to the ACT’s biodiversity through ongoing education and community engagement. As well as winning the overall award, Canberra Urban Honey took home the Young Legends award. Just 18 at the time of the awards, Mitchell Pearce, Director of The Canberra Urban Honey project, is Australia’s youngest commercial urban beekeeper.

With such enthusiasm and dedication to sustainability and waste reduction from young Canberrans the future of the ACT looks bright. The ACT population further demonstrated their commitment to a litter free and sustainable community, reducing litter by 7.5% when counted by item, and 18.4% by volume in the2014/15 National Litter Index.

“Keep Australia Beautiful has worked tirelessly for more than forty years towards raising awareness about our environment and encouraging all sectors of the community to get involved in the achievement of sustainable outcomes. We’re making significant progress in building a more sustainable future for Canberra. The ACT Government’s policies and programs will protect our lifestyle as well as the environment we all value so highly.

Federation Network

St. Francis Xavier College were recipients of a Beverage Container Community Recycling Grant for new co-mingled recycling stations, diverting an estimated 1.8 tonnes of waste from landfill.

These awards recognise this partnership and provide an excellent opportunity for the efforts of our local community groups, businesses, industry and government to be recognised in their work towards achieving a sustainable future for Canberra.”

- Andrew Barr MLA, Chief Minister, Patron of the ACT Sustainable Cities Awards

Keep New South Wales Beautiful It has been an incredibly busy year for Keep NSW Beautiful. We are a happy and close-knit team that are always up for a challenge, and have rolled up our sleeves to work collaboratively over the past year, propelling our programs and campaigns to greater success. KNSWB has launched new modules for our incursion-based primary school environmental education program, the EnviroMentors, which was attended by over 45,000 students over the last reporting period. Educators have also developed and are about to launch a new module entitled Litter, directly addressing NSW’s litter problem.

Federation Network

Our Sustainable Communities Awards programs have been rolled into one new awards program: the Blue Star Sustainability Awards. This new awards program is a streamlined, forward-thinking response recent advances in sustainable thinking here in NSW. The Blue Stars have received a record number of entries and seem be resonating with our network of communities. This year we started two new programs. These were the KNSWB Congress and Take the Pledge – both of which will become annual events to tackle litter through investigation and awareness in the NSW population. Take the Pledge is a campaign with a simple message for broad appeal. With a focus on NSW beaches, KNSWB along with the help of volunteers, devoted one Saturday to collecting written promises from members of the public up and down the coast, asking them to pledge “to keep New South Wales beautiful by not littering”. The campaign also involved the creation of a website where anyone could pledge online, at any time. We collected over 5,000 pledges by 1 November, and engaged 165 volunteers to take the campaign to 40 different beaches.

“The organisation has spent the year developing and enriching our programs for sustainability education and anti-littering behaviour at every level of society and industry. We have worked on empowering communities with resources as well as motivating, educating and rewarding sustainable endeavours. Our focus as always remains local, because it is through local and grassroots actions that large-scale results are achieved and maintained.” - David Imrie, Chief Executive, Keep NSW Beautiful

Keep Australia Beautiful Council Northern Territory

Northern Territory remote and isolated communities continue to improve significantly, and the process of judging our Tidy Towns is becoming increasingly difficult as communities meet judging criteria with ever higher standards. The 4 Gold Star Tidy Towns accreditation system, now in its third year, continues to recognise sustainability initiatives while also offering tourism enterprise opportunities to interested communities. The Nhulunbuy Dhimurru Rangers who took home the Australian Clean Beaches title showed their strong connection to the local beach environment, as did their forefathers thousands of years before them. They have a comprehensive approach and ability to lead the way to sustainable futures.

Legacy waste left over from previous Northern Territory Council organisations (pre amalgamation into Super Shires) and dangerous waste materials still remain a challenge with lack of funding support. It’s disappointing that Northern Territory has recorded four consecutive years of increased ground litter even though a range of anti-litter strategies are in place. The Northern Territory Container Deposit Scheme is in its fourth year of operation and changes are being made to the legislation to help streamline the process. Most of the organisational outcomes and achievements successfully accomplished in 2015 were largely due to participation and support on the part of our Regional Councils, community residents and school students. We certainly look forward to working with them over the next year.

Federation Network

The Territory Tidy Towns program was very active in 2015 with participating communities and organisations achieving continuous improvements from 2014 that benefited from the social and environmental wellbeing of their communities and improved the general ‘quality of life’ overall.

3D printing technology provides remote communities with novel opportunities to transform unwanted litter into valuable commodities through enterprise opportunities, while also diverting waste from landfill.

“The actions of the Dhimurru Rangers increases regional pride and esteem and certainly creates opportunities for Indigenous tourism promotion around Nhulunbuy. We are so proud that they have been recognised and acknowledged for their contribution towards coast care.”

Management of landfill sites across the Northern Territory continues to improve significantly with fencing and separation of materials being conducted in most remote and isolated communities.

- Heimo Schober, CEO, Keep Australia Beautiful Council Northern Territory

Keep Queensland Beautiful 2014 provided a great opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved over the past 12 months. For Keep Queensland Beautiful it was a busy year which saw us significantly enhance our programs. Earlier in 2014 we introduced accreditation across our two iconic programs; Tidy Towns and Clean Beaches, providing participating towns and beaches with a 1 to 5 star rating based on their performance in key focus areas.

Federation Network

Experts agree that civic pride is a critical factor in the development and improvement of any community - our renewed Tidy Towns and Clean Beaches accreditation is a platform built to bring the community together, to reward and acknowledge every town, not just category winners - like we have previously done. Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast was awarded Queensland’s Cleanest Beach title, with Cooktown in Far North Queensland being named Queensland’s Tidiest Town - two very diverse communities, one on the Queensland New South Wales border and the other, the most northern town on Australia’s east coast. On the back of hard work, came reward, with our Adopt-a-Spot program being acknowledged through the “Clean Up Award” by Healthy Waterways, and Brisbane City being announced as Australia’s Sustainable City for 2014 by Keep Australia Beautiful National Association. Our school education program; Cleaner Greener Schools experienced an overwhelming increase of 47% of engaged schools, reaching a successful 137 registered schools throughout Queensland. Our 5 star accredited schools will graduate into the Eco-Schools Australia program. Our education team will work with eligible schools to ensure a smooth transition is achieved and their greenjourney continues to be enhanced through further environmental education initiatives.

“Overall, this year has been one of change and plenty of growth. I am extremely pleased with the progress we are making and the new and exciting opportunities that await us in 2015.” - David Curtin, Chief Executive Officer, Keep Queensland Beautiful

KESAB environmental solutions (Keep South Australia Beautiful)

- John Phillips OAM, Executive Director, KESAB environmental solutions

KESAB launched the Litter Less teacher/student PD resource which sets a new benchmark for school based litter education and engagement. Our work with remote aboriginal communities (APY Lands) reaches 9 communities focusing on litter reduction, landfill and waste management, and water education. This year we also delivered waste training to municipal officers in the communities. South Australia continues to lead the nation in beverage container recycling and waste diversion, and works closely with a number of jurisdictions building capacity and engagement ensuring sustainability education is embraced through a range of activities. These include Wipe Out Waste, Clean Site, Sustainable Communities, NRM Education, Recyclers SA, Road Watch, council education contracts, Wingfield Education Centre and our professional waste auditing services.

Meningie won the Overall Sustainable Communities Award in late October 2014, and underwent National judging just a few weeks later, with newly appointed Australian Tidy Towns judge Jill Grant. The Meningie community showcased the best that Meningie has to offer including the Pelican Path walking trail, Coorong Cottage industries, Orana Melaleuca Nursery, and sustainable fishing at dawn on the Coorong with Coorong Wild Seafood.

Federation Network

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A highlight of the KESAB environmental solutions 2014/2015 year was receiving the United Nations Association of Australia Environmental Sustainability Education Award. This award recognised KESAB world class education and resource development through strong government and commercial partnerships working with the community.â&#x20AC;?

Whyalla represented South Australia at the Australian Clean Beaches Awards held in July 2014 at Currumbin, Queensland where they won the Community Action and Partnerships Award. This award acknowledged leadership by the Council, their partnerships with industry, government, clubs and community groups, to not only create a more stable beach environment, but also for delivering programs to educate locals and tourists. The national judging tour included the Whyalla Foreshore redevelopment to the fragile Point Lowly coastline.

A large group from Council and the community made their way to Sheffield, Tasmania, for the Australian Tidy Towns Awards, where they won the Water Conservation and Community Action and Partnerships category awards.

The City of Holdfast Bay was announced as the the Australian Sustainable Cities winner. The Council worked hard to put together a terrific national judging day in September hosting the Australian Sustainable Cities judge Cameron Little and showcased a range of initiatives occurring in their council area. These included bin tagging, coastal dune plantings with students at Seacliff dunes, and the community garden at Glenelg North.

Keep Australia Beautiful Tasmania The winner of the KAB Tasmania Tidy Towns program, Westbury, is a community which takes enormous pride in what it does and shows very clearly a fierce determination to achieve its aims and objectives with maximum success.

Federation Network

It is a town that listens to the views of its younger members and encourages them to be involved in so many sustainable ways. It has met its environmental challenges head-on with the enthusiastic help of so many individuals and groups.

and a city which demonstrates that it understands and responds to the many interpretations of the word “sustainable”. Our education program has also gone from strength to strength. We are undertook a pilot implementation of the Eco-Schools program here in Tasmania. We welcome the opportunity to speak with primary and secondary schools regarding this program.

Raspins Beach, Orford was the worthy Clean Beaches award winner. In recent times Raspins Beach has had its fair share of challenges by the elements and tidal movements which, more frequently than one would like, have deviated from the norm.

We visited 21 entries in the Sustainable Schools Award program. Over the judging period during third term we were shown a number of fantastic programs that have been running for many years, and a significant number of newer programs that are still finding their feet.

However, the beach is blessed with a loving community, determined to protect it, not only from the elements and tidal movements but also from infestations of unwanted flora.

We find the judging time to be an inspiring and rewarding experience. It is incredible to see the positivity and determination that drives these programs.

Glenorchy was the winner of the Sustainable Cities award. It had been a few years since the City’s involvement but they impressed our judge with many significant initiatives.

The ability of a school to deliver significant programs with ‘whatever they have’ has been exciting to see. I have seen programs that do not rely on student numbers, or dollars, instead programs that run on passion.

This is a very proud city in so many ways, a city which is as diverse culturally as it is geographically

“I am delighted to see the fantastic range of Sustainable Communities activities occurring throughout Tasmania. I congratulate not only all the winners, but all the groups and individuals that have participated in these Awards. The passion and dedication of everyone involved is to be commended.”

- Matthew Groom MP, Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage

Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Sustainability Victoria

The 2014 Tidy Town Awards had more than 100 entries into the awards program. The awards ceremony was held at Wangaratta in October and attended by over 200 people. Beechworth was announced as Tidy Town of the year. The 2015 Tidy Town Awards had more than 134 entries into the awards program. The awards night were held on 17 October 2015. The varied nature of the entries was extraordinary and the quality of the entries was outstanding. During the 2014/15 financial year both the 2014 and 2015 Victorian Sustainable Cities were announced. The Victorian Sustainable City for 2014 was Brimbank City Council. The Victorian Sustainable City for 2015 is the City of Frankston. A lavish awards night held in June 2015 in Melbourne saw Frankston named as the Sustainable City of the Year. The event was attended by more than 200 guests. A number of new Councils to the program entered this year.

Both programs had strong interest from groups wanting to become involved; it is heartening to see that there is such a strong interest in becoming involved in community volunteering in both metropolitan and rural and regional areas.

From 1 July we’re stepping out, with our batteries recharged and our networks booming. We are keen to once again take hold of the reins in celebrating community action, community leadership on sustainability, and we will be a strong voice on litter prevention. We are looking forward to a stunning year of community stories of success, linking in with strong networks across communities, industry and government.” - Kirsty Richards, Hon Sec KABV Inc.

Federation Network

The volunteer programs Adopt a Roadside and Stationeers both continued to engage large numbers of community volunteers. They continue to do a great job improving the appearance of their local community and the environment.

“As one of Australia’s oldest environmental groups with a rich history in community reward and recognition, KABV has enjoyed our partnership with SV for the past six years. Members of the KABV Inc. board are grateful for the commitment of the team and investment of Sustainability Victoria in delivering the KABV programs since 2009.

Federation Network

Keep Australia Beautiful Western Australia The number of items littered in WA decreased by 33 per cent in the last 5 years and the NLI indicates WA is meeting set targets in litter reduction. WA’s new 5-year Litter Prevention Strategy 20152020 provides strategic direction for KABC in the future with an emphasis on a shared responsibility. KABC will be working with other individuals, local government, industry and community groups to spread the responsibility for addressing litter issues in their local jurisdictions. WA’s programs continue to grow with more Western Australians joining in the fight against litter. There are now over 10,000 registered litter reporters and 545 Adopt-a-Spot groups. This sort of community engagement and mobilisation provides invaluable assistance to KABC in its mission to reduce litter in WA. The Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities program continues to drive projects in our regional towns and communities with WA’s state winner, Toodyay, winning Australia’s Tidiest Town 2015. $25,300 prize-money was awarded in the 2014-15 year. The small community of Guilderton was selected to represent the state in the Australian Clean Beaches awards and Averil Bones judged that community in June 2015. The Clean Schools and Clean Clubs programs also continue to engage adults and children in litter prevention activities. Through the Community Litter Grants and Beverage Container Recycling Grants $110,480 was distributed to WA communities.

The KABC brand and anti-litter message was promoted across a range of events and activities in 2014-15 with ‘Bin it, you know it’s the right thing to do’, the overarching message. In late 2014, the ‘Too Easy’ tagline was introduced and a range of new promotional resources were developed, including six months cinema advertising, fast food bins, posters and a successful social media campaign.

“Environmental Super Hero, Captain Cleanup helped KABWA staff produce a children’s show for a new Tidy Towns project titled, Clean and Healthy Communities. The show was broadcast out to the regions by the government television station, Westlink and show CDs have been used as prizes! The Captain even wrote a Tidy Towns song and staff had a lot of fun collaborating with him.” - Gail Dodd, Program Coordinator – KABC Services

Sustainable Communities Awards Programs The judges

Jill Grant

Averil Bones

Australian Tidy Towns

The Keep Australia Beautiful network Awards programs are the foundation of the organisations’ community engagement and empowerment activities. These award programs are collectively called the Sustainable Communities Awards and include Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities and Clean Beaches. The 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.

Australian Clean Beaches

Cameron Little

Australian Sustainable Cities

The Sustainable Communities Awards program have been operating in some states for over 45 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 Australian Sustainable Communities Awards consist of: • • •

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

ACT Sustainable Cities “Bees are a great opportunity to practice sustainability since they interact with all other parts of the environment.” - Mitchell Pearce, Director, Canberra Urban Honey

Canberra Urban Honey won the Keep Australia Beautiful ACT Sustainable Cities Award 2014 for their awareness raising community project about the bee population in Canberra. An initiative of Keep Australia Beautiful National Association, the Awards are open to community, business and all levels of government in the ACT. Celebrating their 10th year, the awards celebrate achievements in litter reduction and the broader sustainability agenda including environmental advocacy and renewable energy. The awards were announced at an event held at the ANU Commons in Canberra in July 2014. As well as winning the overall award, Canberra Urban Honey took home the Young Legends award. At the age of 18, Mitchell Pearce is a Director of The Canberra Urban Honey project and is Australia’s youngest commercial urban beekeeper. He has been pivotal in the success of how Canberra Urban Honey increases the number of bees in Canberra by creating micro-apiaries throughout the territory. This is helping to overcome the pollination problems associated with the lack of bees in Canberra and around Australia.

The Keep Australia Beautiful ACT Sustainable Cities Awards are an initiative of Keep Australia Beautiful National Association, sponsored by the Do The Right Thing program, Category sponsor Environment & Sustainable Development Department of the ACT, and Event sponsor ANUgreen.

Australian Tidy Towns

Toodyay also won Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention, Resource Recovery & Waste Management, and Environmental Protection and Innovation, having showcased their outstanding community participation and grass roots efforts. Sponsored by the Australian Packaging Covenant and the Department for the Environment, the Australian Tidy Towns program recognise the hard work undertaken by rural and regional community groups, schools, businesses, individuals and councils; showcasing innovative ideas and initiatives that improve sustainability in our regional areas.

“The town has a strong emphasis on healthy lifestyles with bike friendly and other sustainable transport options such as the daily train services to Perth, solar street lights, energy savings devices and retrofits in buildings.”” - Jill Grant, Australian Tidy Towns judge

Sustainable Communities Awards

Toodyay in Western Australia won the iconic Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Award for 2015. The announcement was made at the national Awards ceremony hosted by the 2014 overall winner, Sheffield in Tasmania on 27 February 2015. The last time WA took home the title was in 2006.

Sustainable Communities Awards

Australian Clean Beaches

The Northern Territory beach of Nhulunbuy won the Overall title for the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Clean Beaches Awards 2014. The event was held at Currumbin, Queensland on 18 July 2014. Nhulunbuy is located on the traditional land of the Yolngu people, and currently has around 4000 residents. Its residents, with full support of the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, have taken on responsibility for managing the huge amount of beach litter, including lost fishing nets and marine debris that washes up on the beaches of Cape Arnhem. Nhulunbuy also won the award for Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention. The role of the area’s traditional owners in providing effective stewardship of Arnhem Land cannot be overstated in managing the considerable litter that arrives in the area as a result of ocean currents. Official event sponsor for the Australian Clean Beaches Awards 2014 was City of Gold Coast, and venue supporter Currumbin Beach Vikings Surf Life Saving Club. Keep Australia Beautiful is seeking sponsorship for this worthwhile program.

“The commitment and determination of the residents to take on such an overwhelming litter challenge, and their success in maintaining an active program of litter collection under such extreme circumstances, in particular remoteness, scale and climate, is truly inspiring.””

- Averil Bones, Australian Clean Beaches judge

Australian Sustainable Cities

Brisbane City performed strongly across all areas and also emerged as winner of the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention and Energy Innovation category awards. The Sustainable Cities program allows Australia to show case the best of the best, and provides outstanding examples of how cities around the nation are implementing practical projects that help local communities achieve an efficient and sustainable future. The Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable Cities Awards are sponsored by the Australian Packaging Covenant. The principal event sponsor was City of Marion, the 2013 Australian Sustainable Cities Winner. Thank you to our other event sponsors, TAFE South Australia and Solar Bins Australia.

“All cities have room for improvement and Brisbane has been working to improve all of its operations plus push further ahead in the areas that it was already showing leadership and excellence in.”” - Cameron Little, Australian Sustainable Cities judge

Sustainable Communities Awards

Brisbane City Council was named Australian Sustainable City 2014 at the Awards ceremony held on 28 November hosted by the City of Marion.

Sustainable Communities award winners tables

Sustainable Communities Awards

ACT Sustainable Cities Awards winners 2014 Category

Winner

Commendation

Community Action, Partnerships and Culture

ACTEW Water and Southern ACT Catchment Group

Isabella Plains Early Childhood School – Backyard Rangers Program

Resource Recovery and Litter Prevention

Hindmarsh Construction Australia

Environmental Advocacy and Innovation

Urban Agriculture Australia

Sustainable Buildings – Commercial

Hindmarsh Construction Australia

Sustainable Buildings – Residential

Jigsaw Housing – Modular Jigsaw Housing – Thorn Place

Young Legends

Canberra Urban Honey

Wildcard

Kokonut Pacific Pty Ltd

Renewable Energy Innovation (Sponsored by ACT Gov ESDD) Overall

Canberra College

Canberra College SolarShare Canberra Armada

Canberra Urban Honey

Australian Tidy Towns Awards winners 2015 Category

Winner

Commendation

Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention (sponsored by APC)

Toodyay, WA

Resource Recovery & Waste Management (sponsored by APC)

Toodyay, WA

Environmental Protection and Innovation

Toodyay, WA

Beechworth, VIC Westbury, TAS

Energy Innovation

Beechworth, VIC

Cooktown, QLD

Heritage and Culture

Titjikala, NT

Gloucester, NSW

Young Legends

Cooktown, QLD

Community Action and Partnerships

Meningie, SA

Water Conservation

Meningie, SA

Overall

Toodyay, Western Australia

Beechworth, VIC

Australian Clean Beaches Awards Winners 2014 Category

Winner

Community Action and Partnerships

Whyalla, South Australia

Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention

Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory

Environmental Protection and Innovation

Raspins Beach, Tasmania

Heritage and Culture

Rainbow Bay, Queensland

Young Legends

Fingal Head, New South Wales

Overall

Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory