Latest news with #GrahamJohnston
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Grim 300kg find in Aussie river exposes growing nationwide crisis
The discovery of 300kg of rubbish in a 100-metre stretch of Aussie river has exposed a major crisis taking place all across the country, damaging ecosystems and putting the health of humans and wildlife at risk. Volunteers found thousands of pieces of plastic in just 40 minutes scouring a small stretch of mangroves in Erina Bay, part of Brisbane Water, an estuary on New South Wales' Central Coast. It's an issue that leaves environmentalists daunted by the huge task of overcoming the problem of littering — and council reporting app Snap Send Solve predicting a "significant increase" in illegal dumping in 2025. "It was just overwhelming," Graham Johnston, founder of not-for-profit environmental group Clean4shore, told Yahoo News. The worrying discovery comes after weeks of rain in the state, which have caused soft plastic litter to wash into waterways. "A lot of it was food wrappings, what I call gutter rubbish, where people have been littering," he explained. "That's the biggest cause of this." Among the mangroves, the group of volunteers also found industrial products, and an entire boat — an ever-present battle in NSW waterways. Sadly, volunteers will need to return to the "terrible" spot, which is still filled with rubbish. Mangroves are critical to coastal ecosystems and play a key role in environmental stability, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Leaving the mangroves "full of" microplastics has significant ecological consequences. "It's pretty disappointing," Johnston said. Australia is seeing escalating concerns about microplastics damaging habitats, affecting wildlife, and entering the food chain. As a result, Johnston urged members of the public to dispose of their rubbish correctly by placing it in the bin first and foremost. He also suggested looking for alternatives to plastic waste. "Let's find an alternative to plastic packaging. Can we find it in biodegradable plastic, or in a cardboard box? We've got to look for alternatives to reduce the plastic we are using," he said. Last year, the volunteer group took 99 trips into the field, with 40.85 tonnes of waste removed. 909 volunteers contributed by collecting 88,704 individual items from NSW waterways. 🛞 Plea to Aussies after grim discovery along creek ⚠️ Tragic 440kg find in Aussie river prompts desperate plea to government 🛒 Photos show 'insane' Aussie problem after 2,240kg find in river Danny Gorog, CEO & Founder of Snap Send Solve told Yahoo the problem Central Coast residents face with litter and dumping is part of a wider trend taking place across the nation. "Illegal dumping is on the rise, and it's taking a real toll on our environment and local communities," Gorog said. In 2024, there were nearly 40,000 reports of dumped rubbish in NSW alone, with 19,000 reported already this year. 'We're on track for a significant year-on-year increase,' he warned. Gorog said that the best way to help solve the problem is to report any issues. "Whether it's household waste, illegal dumping, or abandoned furniture, litter harms our parks, waterways and shared spaces," he said. "Tackling it starts with each of us, and Snap Send Solve makes it simple to take action." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
300kg find in Aussie river exposes growing nationwide crisis: 'Significant increase'
The discovery of 300kg of rubbish in a 100-metre stretch of Aussie river has exposed a major crisis taking place all across the country, damaging ecosystems and putting the health of humans and wildlife at risk. Volunteers found thousands of pieces of plastic in just 40 minutes scouring a small stretch of mangroves in Erina Bay, part of Brisbane Water, an estuary on New South Wales' Central Coast. It's an issue that leaves environmentalists daunted by the huge task of overcoming the problem of littering — and council reporting app Snap Send Solve predicting a "significant increase" in illegal dumping in 2025. "It was just overwhelming," Graham Johnston, founder of not-for-profit environmental group Clean4shore, told Yahoo News. The worrying discovery comes after weeks of rain in the state, which have caused soft plastic litter to wash into waterways. "A lot of it was food wrappings, what I call gutter rubbish, where people have been littering," he explained. "That's the biggest cause of this." Among the mangroves, the group of volunteers also found industrial products, and an entire boat — an ever-present battle in NSW waterways. Sadly, volunteers will need to return to the "terrible" spot, which is still filled with rubbish. Mangroves are critical to coastal ecosystems and play a key role in environmental stability, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Leaving the mangroves "full of" microplastics has significant ecological consequences. "It's pretty disappointing," Johnston said. Australia is seeing escalating concerns about microplastics damaging habitats, affecting wildlife, and entering the food chain. As a result, Johnston urged members of the public to dispose of their rubbish correctly by placing it in the bin first and foremost. He also suggested looking for alternatives to plastic waste. "Let's find an alternative to plastic packaging. Can we find it in biodegradable plastic, or in a cardboard box? We've got to look for alternatives to reduce the plastic we are using," he said. Last year, the volunteer group took 99 trips into the field, with 40.85 tonnes of waste removed. 909 volunteers contributed by collecting 88,704 individual items from NSW waterways. 🛞 Plea to Aussies after grim discovery along creek ⚠️ Tragic 440kg find in Aussie river prompts desperate plea to government 🛒 Photos show 'insane' Aussie problem after 2,240kg find in river Danny Gorog, CEO & Founder of Snap Send Solve told Yahoo the problem Central Coast residents face with litter and dumping is part of a wider trend taking place across the nation. "Illegal dumping is on the rise, and it's taking a real toll on our environment and local communities," Gorog said. In 2024, there were nearly 40,000 reports of dumped rubbish in NSW alone, with 19,000 reported already this year. 'We're on track for a significant year-on-year increase,' he warned. Gorog said that the best way to help solve the problem is to report any issues. "Whether it's household waste, illegal dumping, or abandoned furniture, litter harms our parks, waterways and shared spaces," he said. "Tackling it starts with each of us, and Snap Send Solve makes it simple to take action." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
4WD drivers slammed for 'poor camping practices' after 440kg discovery
A volunteer group who tirelessly remove waste from Aussie waterways every weekend has slammed 4WD campers for adding to their clean-up efforts, after retrieving piles of discarded beer cans and food wrappers near tyre tracks left in the sand. The Clean4Shore team, headed by founder Graham Johnston, removed 440 kilograms worth of rubbish from Crangan Bay along the NSW Central Coast on Sunday. Despite the large quantity of waste being no surprise — with the team easily collecting double this amount in a single day — it was clear that "poor camping practices" are increasingly contributing to the waste found in the water. "Some off-road campers think it's okay to dump their beer cans and rubbish in the bush rather than taking it home," Graham told Yahoo News. "I had a group of volunteers there who are recreational campers and they just shook their heads... there was so much." Graham said more and more soft plastics are being found bobbing along in rivers and waterways, and it has only worsened recently with Cyclone Alfred "flushing stuff out the gutters" and revealing litter often hidden away. The group of volunteers also hauled heavy oyster baskets out of the water alongside soft plastics and other debris like fishing equipment and tyres. Oyster baskets that are damaged during storms or simply break free from the currents continue to clog the waterways. Yahoo News previously reported on Clean4Shore's constant battle with the items and oyster farmers have been accused of doing little to collect their property when it no longer is serving it's commercial purpose. "Farmers aren't showing diligence in getting their baskets back, and it's a consistent problem," Graham said. ⛺️ 'Disappointing' trend at campsites prompts stern message to tourists 🏖️ Campers blasted after illegal act on Aussie beach attracting $322 fine 🏞️ Campers blasted after shocking discovery in popular river More and more litter is sprouting up in Aussie waterways as volunteer groups across the country are desperately doing their bit to reduce it. Further north in Queensland, a similar organisation to Clean4Shore called Ocean Crusaders cleans waterways and foreshores in a bid to limit the impact on the local environment and wildlife. Ocean Crusaders have been cleaning up the Brisbane River and nearby waterways since 2017. Volunteer Ian Thomson told Yahoo News previously he has seen an increase in the amount of mess littering the riverbank, believing the landscape would be "spectacular" if it were left untouched. "[With the] amount of rubbish, it's not that pretty... it's disheartening," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Detail in 600kg find in waters around Aussie national park shows 'massive problem'
More than 600 kilograms of waste was hauled out of an Aussie river in a single day last week, but clean-up efforts seem like a drop in the ocean after big storms hit the east coast. And one group of river users are being accused of consistently contributing to the mounting rates of rubbish. Last week Clean4Shore volunteers climbed aboard the charity's boat and waded through Brisbane Water, a wave dominated estuary on the NSW Central Coast surrounded by national park, to remove waste from the environment. Three damaged fibreglass boats were retrieved as well as hundreds of oyster baskets. Clean4Shore's founder Graham Johnston claims his team constantly pull equipment belonging to the oyster farming industry out of the water after it becomes untethered. "Oysters grow in baskets along these strings and they might put 30 to 40 baskets along them. What happened with the storm was a string broke and these oyster baskets just washed up on the bank. The oysters die and the baskets are just left," he told Yahoo News. "If we don't pull them out of the water, no one does... it's a massive problem." Clean4Shore removes a wide range of litter from the water every year, from furniture to netting to oyster baskets. On average, 60 tonnes of waste is retrieved by the team annually, it says. At least $2,000 worth of oysters would have been lost from the baskets that the team retrieved during last Tuesday's clean-up efforts, Johnston explained. He believes the industry simply mark them down as write-offs and move on. "Farmers aren't showing diligence in getting their baskets back, and it's a consistent problem," he said. "There needs to be more compliance from fisheries to make sure these people are doing the right thing." Yahoo News contacted the NSW Department of Primary Industries on Tuesday but did not receive comment. Pair spotted in alarming act on flooded road as Aussies urged to leave Campers blasted after shocking discovery in popular Aussie river Photos show 'insane' Aussie problem after 2,240kg find in river Local man John Grant told Yahoo News the oyster baskets have been an issue in the area for over three years, and he has even taken it upon himself to retrieve them from the water and stacked them on his property. "They're about a metre one way and 60 centimetres the other way, they're not small," he explained, adding that local wildlife is also being impacted by the debris floating around in the water. "It's where they eat. We've got critically endangered animals here." Oysters are grown in many parts of the country including Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and NSW — with farms in NSW being the largest and most successful. NSW produced over $59 million worth of oysters alone between 2018 and 2019, according to NSW Oysters, with states having different optimal growing conditions for differing species. The Australian oyster industry is now worth $175 million. Not only is the industry growing, but the oysters themselves have been called the "unsung heroes" of our coastal ecosystems as they filter five litres of water every hour from their eating habits. They eat algae, food waste and sewage sludge, turning murky water into clear water. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
