Rubbish into Art

The Sunshine coast - where clear waters glisten in the sun along undulating lines of canals and rivers and postcard-perfect beaches that hug the coastline. 

“Our waterways, wetlands and beaches are an important part of our lifestyle, our health and well-being, our livelihoods and our local economy,” says Sunshine Coast Council’s acting manager of environment operations Denise Lindon. “Locals and tourists enjoy swimming, boating and fishing, walking, cycling and meeting friends and family near the water.” 

With more than 100km of beaches and 12,000km of waterways, ranging from small freshwater creeks to coastal rivers, Denise says the Sunshine Coast’s catchments are all connected and any litter dropped will end up in rivers, creeks and the ocean.

“Every year since 2017 the Sunshine Coast litter contractor has removed an average of 15 to 17 tonnes of litter from Sunshine Coast waterways,” she says. “It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of all waterway litter originates from land-based activities occurring in local catchments.”

That is where Night Eyes Water and Land Care Group comes in. The dedicated group of Caloundra-based volunteers operates in two ways: a shore-based patrol that collects rubbish; and a pontoon operating five days a week from Coochin Creek to Bulcock Beach in Caloundra. 

Night Eyes president Warren Crawshaw says the rubbish problem is significant, “In 20 years we have collected approximately 62 tonnes of rubbish from those waterways,” he says.

The group is supported by Sunshine Coast Council, sponsored by local businesses and Centrelink-accredited, so people looking to fulfil their volunteering obligations or to do something positive for their community while looking for work also often take part.“Most of us are retired,” Warren says. “We do have association with … Volunteering Sunshine Coast and there are people on Newstart that are looking for a job. A lot of them are older people that cannot get jobs, so they do voluntary work.”

Denise says that from 2016-20, the council and community Beach Clean Up Program collected 450,000 pieces of litter – almost 11 tonnes – from Sunshine Coast beaches. Litter collected is recorded into the Australian Marine Debris Initiative database, to identify the biggest impacts on local beaches.

“The main rubbish culprits on our beaches are Slurpee cups, cigarette butts and doggy poo bags,” she says. Single-use plastics are another concern because they break down into micro-plastics. Plastics made up 74 per cent of items collected in waterways. 

“Sunshine Coast Council values our partnerships with volunteers, schools, businesses and community groups. Together, we help protect our local waterways, beaches and coastal environments from litter and marine debris.”

Local artist Roslyn Uttleymoore became aware of the great work Night Eyes was doing and wanted to help. After participating in shore patrols, she decided to create art from rubbish.Standing among a sea of colourful baskets, woven with charms, shells and symbolic plastic, Roslyn brought out a cheque at a Night Eyes meeting in December. The giant cheque, sponsored by local business Stickerman, is for $2240. 

“This is a cheque for Night Eyes Water Care, our local volunteers who clean our beaches and keep our sea creatures safe,” she says proudly.

The impressive fundraising effort came from Roslyn’s creative genius. She realised rubbish, once collected, often ends up in landfill and she wanted to find a way to help reduce that and help Night Eyes’ work at the same time. 

“All the rope that is in the baskets has come from the ocean, so it is saving the turtles and saving the fish … now it also being saved from landfill,” she says. “The guys here collect it, which is wonderful, they get it out of the ocean, but then it goes to landfill. So they are now saving the rope for me and then I turn it into baskets and sell those. 

“Creating the baskets really has been a labour of love for me but the most important thing for me is that Night Eyes gets the recognition for what they do because collecting trash is a thankless job.”Roslyn says she feels that when people buy the baskets, they are becoming involved. 

“Whenever they buy these, like the little ones that are $10, it all goes to Night Eyes,” she says. “When they give them as a gift, it tells a story. An important story. It is helping create the awareness.”

As Warren and Roslyn so passionately show, we can all make a difference.

You can find Roslyn and her creations at
@roslyn_uttleymoore on Instagram
Roslyn Uttleymoore Living Life on Facebook. 

Follow the work of Night Eyes at @night_eyes_water_care on Instagram and ‘Night Eyes Water and Land Care Group’ on Facebook, or visit www.nighteyeswaterandlandcare.com.au.

Story published in Sunny Coast Times by Rebecca Mugridge