As part of Capricornia Catchments’ Round 9 Litter & Marine Debris Clean Up and Prevention project, our team recently attended the Rockhampton Regional Council Barrage Open Day, providing a great opportunity to engage with the community about litter prevention, recycling, and protecting our local waterways. This project is proudly funded through the Queensland Government’s Community Sustainability Action grant program.
Visitors to the Capricornia Catchments stall learned about the impacts of litter and marine debris on the environment, with a particular focus on cigarette butt pollution and the importance of responsible waste disposal. Community members also had the opportunity to participate in a range of educational activities and competitions throughout the day.
One of the highlights was our cigarette butt guessing competition, where participants estimated the number of cigarette butts collected in a display jar. Congratulations to Pearl, who submitted the closest guess and won a YETI bottle.
We also invited attendees to help name our crocodile mascot. After receiving plenty of creative suggestions, we are pleased to announce that our mascot is now officially known as Roy the Croc. Roy spent the day meeting visitors, helping spread environmental messages, and encouraging conversations about caring for our waterways and reducing litter in our region.
Events such as the Barrage Open Day play an important role in supporting the objectives of the project by raising awareness of litter issues, encouraging behaviour change, and helping the community better understand the impacts of litter and marine debris on local ecosystems.
Capricornia Catchments would like to thank Rockhampton Regional Council for hosting another successful Barrage Open Day and providing local organisations with the opportunity to connect with the community. We also extend our thanks to everyone who visited our stall, participated in activities, and took the time to learn more about protecting our environment.
We look forward to continuing our community engagement activities and sharing more updates from the Round 9 Litter & Marine Debris Clean Up and Prevention project.
