Community

Summer clean-up – an invitation to protect the coast

by Nicole May

Published January 05, 2026

Summer clean-up – an invitation to protect the coast — Danni from Wildlife Coast Cruises with Wes – a passionate future ranger.

WILDLIFE Coast Cruises led a community cleanup of Cowes last week, scheduled for the summer peak season after the New Year celebrations, a community event sponsored by Wildlife Coast Cruises and Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Environmental officers of Wildlife Coast Cruises, Mika and Georgia, led the cleanup, setting up a hub on the foreshore. Families and school-aged children passing by donated their time to collect rubbish from along the Cowes foreshore, main street and nearby points such as Erehwon Point and Mussle Rocks.

“We basically covered the entire foreshore around the nearby carparks,” said Mika. “We didn’t get a lot of participants, but people were really passionate and spent quite a bit of time in the heat to look for rubbish around town, in the bushes and on the beach.”

Organisers weighed every bag returned to the hub to track results and recycle properly, weighing in a total of 27.61 kgs of waste in an hour and a half. 80 litres of landfill, 65 litres of bottles and cans, five litres of organic waste and 20 litres of paper and cardboard.

“It was great to have support from local businesses donating prizes and supporting the event,” said Mika. “Not many people want to donate their time picking up rubbish on holidays which is understandable, so it was wonderful to have support from Phillip Island Nature Parks, Phillip Island Tenpin Bowling and Entertainment Centre, Phillip Island Sauna, San Remo Fisherman's Co-op, Field Phillip Island, Cowes Coastcare and Wildlife Coast Cruises donating vouchers for participants to go into a draw and win a few local prizes. It was a great incentive for participation.”

Holiday makers voluntarily participated in the local summer clean-up.

The event was coordinated with support from the Bass Coast Shire Council, which provided waste vouchers to allow for cost-free disposal of collected rubbish.

“Georgia was a key driver of the event, and we coordinated it together. Last year it was held in September, but it was great to hold it after the New Year period, where we collected cans, cigarette butts and glow sticks,” said Mika.

“We look forward to running more local clean-ups in the future.”