#10 and we're not stopping there!

It was fitting that Sunday turned out to be such a bloody awesome day… not only was it our tenth Seaside Scavenge EVER, half-way through our East Coast Tour and the wind and rain stayed away but we hit a record for the amount of litter collected.

Over 4 groovin’ hours 87 hands assisted in collecting 209.85kg of litter from Main Beach. That included 109.6kg of recycling, 3,976 cigarette butts and a whole lot of weird items from bike locks to rusted out fry pans…

But the oddest item by far was a rusty golf club found by Kav and Jules. They resisted the urge to take it home and for this gem they’ve won themselves a ticket to Brunswick Picture House.

Lindsay Hill will also be treated to a showing at Brunswick Picture House with her record find of TWENTY-FIVE coffee cups in one go… These are a single-use nightmare in our coffee culture crazed society. If you can go top-less on your coffee, do it!

That was one of Alice Forrest helpful hints that she shared along with a bunch of other tips on how to avoid single-use stuff. We also heard from Chrystal Dawn who inspired us to love and respect the ocean as she talked about her background growing up in Hawaii. Then there was Anthony Hill from Plastic Pollutions Solutions…. He got everyone touching their heads or their tails with quirky marine debris facts. We hope you learnt a thing or two!

There was also a lot of learning taking place in the sorting station thanks to the incredible Scavenge volunteers helping everyone sort and separate their litter. Someone that learnt a whole heap was Anke who managed to scavenge the biggest haul overall, with a total of 206 items and 152 cigarette butts. We hope she’s got of bunch of mates at the ready to slurp up some Stone&Wood with her while having a tour of the brewery!

People were scavenging far and wide, but it was Carly that made it all the way to Tallows… For her exploring effort she’s landed herself a Cheeki Stainless Steel Bottle and a Patagonia T-shirt! Jeremy and Lisa scoured the coast and collected 220 cigarette butts and can now treat themselves to $50 meal at Treehouse on Belongil.

While all this beach scavenging was happening we had an amazing line-up of musicians from locals Nick Cunningham and Matt Armitage to the touring brothers VanderAa. Can’t thank them enough for offering their talents on the day… You guys got the crowd growing and going, thanks for your toe-tapping tunes!

Plastic bottles… 4.2 million of them are used in Australia every year and often they end up on our beaches! But with legends like Brad and Isaac around we better thank them for making sure these pesky single-use items end up in the recycling. They found 20 and can now lap up the goodness of some home cooked goods out of their new Three Blue Ducks Cook Book and go shopping with their funky Boomerang Bag!

It was an unreal vibe on Main Beach… Thanks to the Beach Hotel scavengers could quench their thirst with a refreshing schooner of Stone&Wood and pick up some pre-loved goods! We had 238.46kg of second-hand clothes, shoes, belts and more donated by the wider Byron community and impressively over 90% of it went!

There were a lot of people that captured this special day through insta so needless to say it was tough call when judging this one… But Harry Patchett is a well deserving candidate sharing two photos of him scavenging about the bushes and donning his well-earnt purchases! Well done mate.. Patagonia gear coming your way!

Despite the disgustingness of having collected 210kg of litter from a beautiful stretch of coastline, it was an unreal day. The Scavenge is about bringing everyone together creatively and pro-actively to bring out the energy and passion that we all share! We’re stoked that along the east coast communities can connect through enjoying the vibes of a plastic-free, dollar-free and barrier free event! Thanks for all your support to reach the big 1-0!