Sydney Green Bird

Amazing that it's been 2 years since I started the Sydney team ☺️ I have met so many lovely people through Green Bird both here and in Japan. Very proud to be representing such a great organisation, getting out there to make a difference every month 🤗. Looking forward to venturing out to Parramatta at the end of this month. No matter how tired I am from being mum to a baby, Green Bird gives me an energy boost 💚🐦

日本語↓This month, we ventured into the trendy back streets of Surry Hills as well as Oxford Street to do our clean up! We were out in force with another very large group of keen volunteers. Lots of fresh faces this month, with volunteers coming not only from Australia and Japan, but China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Korea too 🇨🇳🇻🇳🇸🇦🇰🇷🎉!

What we picked up was quite the standard, but I often found strange silicon lids and wondered what these are normally found on? 🤨 Whatever they are, it seems that some people out there think they are disposable directly onto the streets of Sydney. People lunching around Surry Hills and Oxford Street got a glimpse of our band of around 40 volunteers doing their bit to make Sydney a better place. And most of them aren't even locals (except for our regular members 🙏🏻). I'd love for more more locals to get involved so if you are a Sydneysider and you see this post, why not join us in August or later this year at a clean up? 😊

今月はじめて洒落た町のサリーヒルズとオクスフォードストリートでお掃除をしました！日本とオーストラリアをはじめ、今回は東アジアの韓国と中国だけではなく、サウジアラビアからのボランティアさんも来てくれて、とても嬉しかったです😀! 子供達も含めて40人頑張ってシドニーをよりピカピカな街にするように精一杯頑張ってごみを拾いましたね。その情熱は近くのカフェでブランチをとっていた皆さんの目に焼き付けたのでしょう👀。今月は地元人もお掃除の大切さが分かるといいなって思いながら活動をした気がします。来月はどこで拾えばいいかな？お掃除が必要なところはいつも募集中です🗑️😀また８月によろしくお願いします😇

日本語↓ Last Saturday, we explored the rubbish of Eastwood! A place we haven’t been to as a Green Bird group before. Unfortunately, the amount of rubbish was as expected – quite a lot. I had visited the suburb earlier during that week and noted that the council has employed workers to pick up after the locals, but even these council workers have not been able to keep up with the litter problem Eastwood is facing. An issue volunteers discussed today was the fact that disposable vapes are not actually disposable in regular bins as they contain batteries. However, these continue to be sold and disposed of incorrectly (or just left in the streets). Such items should not be made available to the public if they aren’t allowed to throw them away in street bins. It just doesn’t make sense. Furthermore, public bins on streets often have gaps between the outer metal shell and the council bin beneath it, allowing rubbish to be thrown onto the ground between the two layers. Is this something that City of Ryde and City of Sydney councils could address? In any case, it was a small group of volunteers that made their way out today, made up of a lot of our regulars. However, I noted that despite our small number, we had 20 new views of the Green Bird page as a result of our presence in Eastwood. Clearly our activities were visible, and hopefully left an impression on the locals! It was a relaxed vibe, and I was able to talk more than usual to some of our volunteers. Due to the group being small, we could also all have lunch together at a local Korean restaurant! Thank you to everyone for coming out to make a difference. You are greatly valued and appreciated

Received some towels from the Green Bird Hiroshima team. First 4 regular members to reach 20 birds on their stamp card will receive a towel 🐦💕

日本語↓Yesterday we made our way to the city to participate for the second time in a Green Bird Hiroshima clean up! Thank you once again to Jun san (the Hiroshima leader) for organising the clean up during our stay. As expected, the locals who come to Green Bird are so kind, and we immediately felt welcomed 💚😇. As you might notice, the amount of rubbish that you find on the streets of Hiroshima is significantly less than Sydney. The size of the bags is proof of this 😅 (note that some people threw away their small bags before the photo). However, it seems that ci******es are still an ongoing issue, especially because it's much cheaper to smoke in Japan. On top of this, a lot of smokers are disposing of their ci******es inside cans. This makes the cans unsuitable for recycling too. The mum of the little boy that joined us yesterday told me that they recently visited one of Hiroshima's waste sorting plants. The public is able to go in and view how waste is sorted and burnt. I think if where our waste goes was more visible in Australia, it would encourage people to recycle more and produce less waste in general. It's great to see mums teaching their kids about this from an early age. Our baby bird joined us as usual yesterday too - and she was very well behaved for the entire hour clean up ☺️🙏🏻 Looking forward to the next time we get to participate in Japan, and hoping to welcome Green Bird Hiroshima members to one of our Sydney clean ups too 💕😊.

昨日は1年半ぶりにまたグリーンバード広島のゴミ拾い活動に参加させていただきました！私たちが参加できる日時を今年も選んでくれたチームリーダーのじゅんさんにとても感謝しています💚2023年の一月に活動した時に小雨が降り、空が曇りで結構寒い冬の朝でした。それに比べて昨日は暖かくて晴れている初夏の夕方。やはり天気が暖かいと体と心がゆったりして、参加者と色々お喋りしながらごみを拾えました。楽しかったです。予想通りですが、シドニーより広島中心地でもゴミが圧倒的に少ないですが、流石にタバコの吸い殻や小さなプラスチックごみは世界共通の問題ですね。一緒に参加したお母さんによると、広島中工場という町の真ん中にあるゴミ処理場で見学ができます。うちのベイビーバードはまだ小さいですが、もう少し大きくなったら、私も彼女をそこに連れていきたいと思いました。子供の時から環境問題を意識させるのは、とても大事だと思うからです。素敵な経験をありがとうございました👋🏻また広島かシドニーで会えるといいですね🦜🪶

只今日本滞在中です。そしてグリーンバードを思い出させることを共有したいと思いました。一つ目は今読んでいる「ゴミ清掃員の日常」というコミックエッセイに見つかった文です。ゴミの捨て方はその地域の品格を表すということですね。グリーンバードの活動をするたびに、シドニーの品格を少しだけあげているような気がして嬉しいです！そして昨日お寺に行っておみくじを引いたら、なんとこの間グリーンバードのボランティアさんに教えてくれた諺と同じ文があって運命を感じました！やはり塵も積もれば山なすという言葉は素敵で、常にグリーンバードの活動の中心にある概念です🌺ちなみにおみくじは大吉でしたよ♪
今週、広島のグリーンバードに参加させていただきます。また６月８日にシドニーで会いましょう☺️

Although it's a little early, it is always good to plan in advance :D I hope to see you at the June clean up🧹✨
少し早いですが、６月のお掃除に参加しませんか。
掃除が終わると韓国料理が食べれますよ😋！
また６月に宜しくお願いします～

Send a message to learn more

日本語↓Last weekend, we took to the streets of Chinatown for a BIG clean up! As expected, our volunteers were not short of litter to pick up in this area of Sydney! One of our regular volunteers even stopped by Woolies during the clean up to pick up a monster-sized rubbish bag to replace the one he filled in an instant! Areas where the council has installed planters for trees and other greenery are a constant issue – with rubbish piling up around the trees or in the gardens. And of course, the main culprits are plastic packaging (Mentos wrappers still a big issue) and ci******es. We are well aware that we will never be able to pick up all of the ci******es littering our streets – but we do hope that some smokers who litter will see us and think twice about what they are doing – especially if they see small children picking up after them! It was great to see one mama returning with her daughter from the February event, as well as 4 new mums attend with their children. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about such a large turnout (over 40 people!), but thanks to helpful regular volunteers, things went smoothly and the public thanked us for our work – proving that we are certainly visible. I would like to call on City of Sydney Council to do more about the rubbish issue in this part of the CBD. We need more thorough cleaning of hard to get areas, and regulations to prevent littering in the first place.
Our next event will be held in early June. I look forward to seeing you again there!

先週末、グリーンバードのボランティアさんは中華街の大掃除をしました！参加者はなんと４０人を超えました！予想通り、中華街は拾いきれないほどゴミが多い地域です。プラゴミはもちろん、タバコの吸い殻も特に多い気がしました。タバコをポイ捨てしている人たちは子供がその後始末をしているのを見たら、町を汚す行動を考え直してくれたらいいなと思います。僅かですが、その希望を活動するたびに持っています。市が植えた木の周りにもゴミがいっぱい溜まっていて、ボランティアさんたちがそれを拾うのに必死な姿はとっても誇らしかったです。やっぱりこの活動，素敵だ！と思う瞬間でした。今月はママが５人も参加して、子供たちはその倍来てくれました。二月に初めて参加した親子も戻ってきてくれましたね。これからもたくさんの親子に参加してほしいです！５月は私が日本に行ってきますので、次の活動は６月初旬に予定しています。またぜひ、グリーンバードと共に、シドニーをより綺麗で、エコな町にしましょう！
City of Sydney

日本語↓🐓This month, we returned to Chatswood to see how much rubbish we could find there. It is generally a cleaner suburb than others in Sydney, but we still managed to fill quite a few bags. Every small piece of rubbish counts as far as the lives of individual wildlife are concerned! As Chatswood is a busy suburb, we attracted quite a bit of attention too, with multiple people approaching us, asking about what we were doing. This month, in addition to Japanese and Australian volunteers, we had members join us from France, Mongolia and Korea! There were also 4 children who participated (some left early so not all are in the photograph), and overall 30 people worked together to make Chatswood a cleaner place! Our French member actually participated in Green Bird in Paris, and was excited to find that we have Green Bird here in Sydney too :D. It always makes me happy to see people of all ages and nationalities coming together to make a difference. Thank you always, and I look forward to seeing you next month! Keep your eyes on this page for our next destination.

今月第二チャッツウッドのお掃除を行いました！チャッツウッドは他のシドニーの町より綺麗な方なのかもしれませんが、十分にごみを拾えたと思います。どれぐらい拾っても環境にも、グリーンバードの活動を見受ける町の人々にも良い影響を与えられるのは間違いありません！今月はオーストラリアと日本のメンバーのほかにフランス、モンゴル、そして韓国からのボランティアさんが来てくれて、フランスのメンバーはパリでもグリーンバードに参加したことがあるとのことでした。シドニーにもグリーンバードがあることを知ってうれしかったらしいです。私もこの話を聞いてとてもうれしかったな！今月参加したメンバーがみんな写真に写っていませんが（早く帰らないといけなかった６人がいないため）合計で３０人が参加してくれて、その中で子供が４人で、とても充実した活動日になったと思います。年齢と国籍を問わず、私たちが住んでいる町を少しでもより綺麗にするために集まるメンバーを見るといつも幸せな気持ちになります。毎月その気持ちを感じさせてくれるメンバーに大感謝です。では、また４月の活動日まで！

Japaraliaさんに記事を書いていただいたのはもうほぼ一年前になります！時間が経つのは早いですね。今月のお掃除はチャッツウッドで行います！
詳細は↓のリンクで見れます😃
https://www.facebook.com/share/pBAyD9Dn6YobtLXQ/?mibextid=9VsGKo

日本語↓Due to bad weather, this month’s Green Bird clean up was changed at the last minute from Saturday to Sunday. Despite the change, we had a whole bunch of lovely volunteers show up to help set an example for both locals and tourists alike! We focused this time on Circular Quay, which was dirtier than you might expect (as two volunteers who got ‘lost’ in a particularly dirty alley found). Back streets are ignored while main streets are cleaned…a pattern we saw last year during our Burwood clean up. The two youngest volunteers ran around like they were on a treasure hunt, finding lots of small pieces of rubbish to pick up and drawing attention from the public. Our 7-year-old volunteer said to me, “I could only find little things”, but then we talked about about how all the seemingly small things actually add up to make a mountain, and how the little things hurt sea life and wildlife even more than the big things sometimes. I was also pleasantly surprised to meet a mum who had sent her daughter (our 11 year old volunteer) to the school in Singapore I was working in, at the same time I was there! We hadn’t met because I didn’t teach her, but it was such a nice and nostalgic coincidence. We immediately exchanged photos of our time there, which made me want to go back! I love that Green Bird brings together people that wouldn’t be able to meet otherwise – both old and young. I’m planning to put a petition together to get City of Sydney Council to increase the number of rubbish bins available on the streets, and to ask for more regular clearing of the bins too. Unlike Japan, we do not have a culture where people are willing to go very far to find a bin – they would rather litter than wait. The amount of rubbish we pick up from that council area in particular is not acceptable for a city prizing itself on its clean harbour. I’m planning a clean up in Macquarie next month! If you know anyone who would like to join us – don’t hesitate to invite them along!
*If you have any photos of overflowing bins in the CBD, or if you work or hang out in the CBD and could take some photos and send them to me, I’d like to use the best ones, along with our Green Bird photos, as part of the petition.*

今年の初お掃除は雨天で日にちが急に変更になったため、参加できなくなった方もいましたが、やる気満々のボランティアさんが２６人も来てくださって、本当に感謝しています！今回は初めてサーキュラーキーを現場として選んでお掃除を行ったのですが、やっぱり中華街やジョージストリートよりは綺麗でしたが、裏道で迷った二人のボランティアさんが気づいたようにすぐに目に見えないところではたくさんのゴミが身を隠していましたね。そして最年少の二人のボランティア（１１歳と７歳）が走り回り、塵も積もれば山となるということを忘れずに、小さなゴミくずをいっぱい拾ってくれました。そのボランティアさんの一人はなんと私がシンガポールで先生として働いていた時点で同じ学校に短い間通っていたのです。当時は毎日一緒の場にいたのに会えませんでしたが、グリーンバードの良さはやっぱりこうやって普段会えない人に会えるということを思い出す機会でした。
これから作成する嘆願書に関してですが、グリーンバードで撮った写真と一緒に、溢れているゴミ箱（シドニー市内の）の写真を提出したいです。私はそういう写真をあまり撮れていなかったことに気がついたので、もし市内でそんなゴミ箱を見つけたら写真を撮って、私に送っていただけないのでしょうか。嘆願書の作成にとても役に立ちます！

来月、まだ掃除したことがない新しいところで活動するつもりなので楽しみにしてください！引き続き、グリーンバードを宜しくお願いします！

日本語↓Wishing all our Greenbird volunteers a peaceful and healthy 2024! Baby bird is practicing stroller outings in preparation for joining Green Bird events ASAP. We are thinking mid February for the first one, so watch this space 🙏🏻🐨.
グリーンバードの皆様、あけましておめでとうございます。24年もよろしくお願いします！ベイビーバードが良いボランティアになる練習をしています。２月半ばからまた活動を始めたいと思っていますので、是非ご参加下さい!🐦🧹

日本語↓Hello all~I apologise for the late post on our late November clean up! I thought that I could take this opportunity to reflect on Green Bird in 2023. This was our first full year of cleaning up, and I think we did some great things! I chose some of my favourite photos (and November clean up photos) to share and talk about in this post.

January: We started the year off with a big group, venturing in a different direction in the city from usual. I remember it was a very hot day, and also the first time for a few participants who soon became Green Bird regulars. I think the average height of our volunteers was the tallest of the whole year!

Early March: Green Bird x Clean Up Australia Day! It was really nice to see all sorts of people signing up to clean both through Green Bird but also Clean Up Australia Day. I was thankful that through CUAD, I could be connected with willing volunteers that wouldn't have otherwise known about Green Bird. We had some returnee volunteers after this event, and one regular member start from this day 👍🏻. I loved how the event brought together people who were passionate about the environment in their countries.

Late March: A group of teachers from a local language school participated in a clean up as a team building activity. Thanks to their wonderful staff member (shout out to Angela), we started to have international students joining our clean ups. One of Green Bird's goals is to spread awareness about waste and pollution to the whole world, and getting international students involved is a great way to achieve this. It's definitely something I want to expand on in 2024.

April: We ventured out to the beach for our first beach clean! It was a small group is dedicated volunteers that joined, and the public reception was great. I made Brighton a regular clean up location as a result throughout the remainder of the year.

May: Our first random suburban clean up! We went to Burwood and I remember this being the first clean up we went to in our new (and first) car. We got lost on the way and I was late to the clean up! Thank goodness for the regular volunteers who took charge, letting everyone know to wait for me and helping hand out bibs, tongs and gloves swiftly.

June: Our biggest turn out of the year was June! I was very surprised by the number of sign ups - with around 40 people, we needed to share some of our tools but it worked in the end! It was our first time trying cleaning up in Hyde Park too.

July and October: I really enjoyed our beach clean ups in July and October. I felt the atmosphere at the beach made the clean up feel relaxed and happy. At the same time, it was sad to see so much plastic pollution. I hope that seeing us cleaning can make some people think twice about where they throw away their rubbish.

November: Our last clean up of the year was the first where I needed to change the date due to the weather. But a small group of regular volunteers came despite the day change, which I appreciated so much 💕. We cleaned up around Hyde Park, finding a lot more rubbish than what you might expect! The garbage truck men were kind enough to let us dispose of our collection in their truck 🚚.

One thing I have enjoyed throughout the year is when children see us cleaning, and pick up a nearby piece of rubbish to put into our bags. We have also had child participants from teens to babies.

In 2024, we will have a regular baby participant, and I will prepare a green hat or outfit to go with our jerseys. 🍏😇

However due to baby bird, we will take a break in December and January. I hope to be back by late February.

I really look forward to where we clean and where Greenbird goes in 2024.

I'm thinking of some ways to get more people involved, so watch this space! 💭

今年グリーンバードの活動に参加していただいた皆様に感謝の気持ちを伝えたいです。皆さんのおかげで今年中にシドニーがより一層輝きました。語学学校の先生たち、国のゴミ拾いの日に来てくれた留学生たち、両親と来て精一杯頑張った可愛い幼児たち、毎回必ず参加してくれた常連のボランティアさんまで、皆さんがいたからとても幸せでした💚来年はもう少し活動を拡大しようと思って、色々考えていますが、グリーンバードと協力したい方や団体をご存知でしたら教えていただければありがたいいです。2023年は本当にお疲れ様でした。来年もどうぞよろしくお願いします🐦

《ベイビーバードの出産で12月と１月は活動を休ませていただきます》

日本語↓Gum is a constant issue on our clean ups. A lot of gum is made from plastic-based substances that do not break down and become microplastic waste, eaten by animals and making an unsightly mess. I found this plastic free gum at my local fruit market and have been enjoying the flavours and also the fact that it is plastic-guilt free! Hope to see you all at our clean up on the 25th 💚

ゴミ拾いするとガムが大問題です。ほとんどのガムはプラスチックの成分が含まれ、結局海洋ゴミになるか動物の口に入るかの一つです。最近八百屋で見つかったプラスチックフリーのガムを買いました。皆さんもプラスチックに頼らない食品を買ったりしていますか。このような商品を買うことで、消費者が望んでいるのは脱プラスチックの世界だというメッセージが伝わると思います。来週末のゴミ拾いでまた会いましょう💪🏻

Last weekend our team of kind and keen volunteers showed up for our final beach clean of the year! There was some confusion about this, as there WILL be a clean up in November too. It just won't be at the beach. Similar to last time we came to Bayside Council, we collected many bags of rubbish. Some not even shown in the photos because we had to dispose of them prior to the end of the clean up. We found lots of fresh and old rubbish in bushes, under docks, behind rubbish bins and more. This also included an area where people have decided is their designated beach dumping ground for large waste. Someone had even tried to burn documents here...very unusual and suspicious! The weather was warm and and sea was filled with people and jetskis. Our hope is that those around us thought a little more about their littering and rubbish disposal habits, seeing us out there, furiously picking up after them! Thank you as always to our volunteers for keeping our oceans clean and helping out some wildlife from being strangled by plastic in the process💙🌊. See you in November for what really will be the final clean up of the year (most likely at Hyde Park and surrounds🦆).

Bayside Council it would be nice to see the large dumped rubbish site at the beach (pictured here) taken care of once and for all through some sort of barrier or at the very least, security cameras to catch the illegal dumpers. I have repeatedly reported the issue via Snap, Send and Solve but it doesn't seem to have been properly dealt with.

先週末常連のボランティアさんと新人のメンバーも集まって、今年最後のビーチのお掃除を行いました！来月はまたゴミ拾いをしますが、今回は最後のビーチでした。写真に収まらないほどたくさんのゴミ袋いっぱいに拾ってくれたみなさんはすごかったです！林の中でも砂上の歩道の下でも砂浜でも古いゴミも新しいゴミも頑張って拾ってくれましたね🥺。砂浜を埋立地として使ってるやつらのゴミの写真を撮って市に送りました…あんなふうにしていいと思うこと自体は怪しすぎます！情熱にゴミ拾いしている私たちの姿を見た人を感心させたならよかったですね。海洋プラスチックで死んでいた生き物の命も一日でも伸びたかもしれません。小さな行動でも、とらないよりはマシで気持ちがいいんです😊また来月のイベントで会いましょう！

日本語↓This month, we returned to the city with both new and old members to try focusing on the Korea and Thai town area. Things started off slow but as we got down towards Chinatown, there was a significant amount to pick up on Pitt St and surrounds. It was sad to look down the drains and see how much rubbish has piled up there. It wouldn't be there to begin with if people didn't throw it away in the street. The public phone booths also seem to be a 'rubbish bin' for some, and we found someone's whole wardrobe in a city bin, causing it to fill up with waste on top very quickly. While I understand people wanting to throw their rubbish away as quickly as they can, it is lazy to throw rubbish on top of an already overflowing bin. If people held onto their rubbish just a little longer, they'd be sure to find a better alternative. For all of these reasons, Greenbird is playing an important role. When people see us having to remove overflowing rubbish from bins and trying to fish rubbish out from drains, I hope that they think one more time about where they throw away their waste. It's also important to consider how such waste could be reduced. For example, the large number of single use cups could be replaced by people's reusable ones. I do realise we are fighting an uphill battle, but some action is better than none at all. Visiting an island today made me think again about how even one plastic cup lid, one cigarette, one mask or one packet of chips can make a difference to the wildlife living around us (in a bad way). Thank you as always to the volunteers that make this small but meaningful activity into a reality every month 💕

今月の活動のためにまたシティーに戻りました。今回あまり掃除したことがないワールドスクエア辺りやタイタウンに集中してゴミを拾いました。溝の中を覗く度に積み重ねているポイ捨てされた物を見ながらとても悲しくなりました。それに、公衆電話もゴミ箱として使われているみたいですね。タイタウンを歩くとあるゴミ箱からゴミが溢れ出ていたので、皆で少し片付けてみたけれど、冬の洋服が丸まって市のゴミ箱いっぱいに捨てられていることに気づきました汗。ゴミの山の原因はともかく、その山の上に更にゴミを捨てるのを辞めてほしい！もう少し持ち歩いたらきっと空いているゴミ箱があるでしょう。こういうことがあるからこそグリーンバードの必要性を感じさせます。やっぱり私達があのゴミの山を片付けたり、公衆電話などからゴミをとったりするのを見ると人達は少しでも自分の行動を反省するのだろうと思います。そしてその上に大事なことは、マイカップを使ったり、洋服を少なめに買って大事にしたりすることで、自分で作るゴミの量を減らす工夫をとりあえずやってみることですね。今日は綺麗な島に行きましたが、海辺で使い捨てのマスクを見たら、やっぱり一つのゴミクズが落ちているだけでも風景が変わって、動物に影響が与えられることを再び考えさせられました。小さな行動に見えるゴミ拾いは決して小さい事ではありません。これからもみんなで頑張りましょう！

日本語↓Today was our first ever clean up in the busy area of Chatswood! I wanted to try out 3 spots: underneath an apartment complex, the main shopping strip planter boxes, as well as the local park. It is sad to see how many people throw away their food and drinks into the planter boxes where birds and other animals go to rest. Some people forget that we are sharing this neighbourhood with other living creatures too! We had people join in from Australia, Japan, Thailand, Colombia and Korea this time and our youngest participant was only 4 years old :). Thank you all for coming and making a difference to both the animals and people who share our communities! I look forward to seeing you for another CBD clean up in September!

今日は初めてチャッツウッドで活動してみました！活動していたのはあるアパートの下と本通りの植木鉢と公園の三箇所でした🌳ポイ捨てされたものを頑張って拾っているボランティアを見ながら、なぜ人たちが植木鉢をゴミ箱として使っているのだろうと考えていました。そこは鳥や虫などの動物が使っているところなのに、人間は他の生き物より自分が上だと思っているから簡単にポイ捨てができるのでしょう。理由はさておき、チャッツウッドは相変わらず混んでいたので、ゴミ拾い活動が人目に立つのにとても良い場所だと思いました。今月はコロンビア、タイ、日本、韓国、オーストラリアなどの国々から来たボランティアさんと活動ができて嬉しかったです。それに最年少のボランティアは4歳でした！いつかタイかコロンビアで会えるといいですね✨また９月に市内で活動をする予定なのでその時会いましょう！

I would like to recommend watching this program to anyone who is interested in our plastic waste problem in Australia. It is very informative and hopefully makes many people rethink their choices at the supermarket👍🏻

日本語↓On Sunday, we were out on the beach in force! How fantastic to have such a large turn out for a clean up that isn't in the city. I was so grateful to those who came from all corners of the city to help out our beach and socialise too. There were a number of people who stopped to ask what we were doing, and asked to join future events. Some of our volunteers went out of their way to collect as much as they could (even when the area was technically a little dangerous) 😳. All of you are role models for those around us, both young and old. Thank you for coming out to show how all of us can be better citizens through our actions! See you again in August 😀🙏🏻.

今回は日本とオーストラリアのみならず、タイとコロンビアの代表も態々シドニーの各地からビーチをお掃除しにきてくれました。最初は天気が心配でしたが結局ずっと晴天に恵まれ、ラッキー✨皆さんの温かい心と環境に役に立ちたい姿勢に感激しました💘すれ違いながら立ち止まり、グリーンバードの活動について聞く方も何人かいたし、本当に環境のためにいいことしているな~と感じながら、他人へ影響も与えられたようで嬉しかったです😌ボランティアの皆様はみんなのお手本です! また８月にお会いできることを楽しみにしております🌞。

Tongs washed and drying on the line after the last clean up! お疲れ様！
Who is coming to the next one on July 23rd? ✨🍀

日本語↓Today was a very unexpected Green Bird! Over the last week or so, a number of people just seemed to find the Green Bird Page, and the event numbers grew beyond my expectation! We also had around 10 people register outside of Facebook, including some people who showed up on the day without registering. At first it was a bit chaotic, but in the end we got going and our multicultural team of volunteers started their cleaning in Hyde Park. It's a place that often looks a lot cleaner than it is (as we discovered), and as usual the volunteers focused on both rubbish big and small to send a message to the city's residents about their responsibility when it comes to waste disposal. Our youngest participant was 4 years old, and he worked very hard on picking up as many small pieces of rubbish as possible, such as those pesky soy sauce containers (the fish shaped ones and their red lids are a particular issue in terms of microplastics - kind of ironic how many 'fish' parts are ending up in Sydney Harbour). In the end, we didn't have time to walk around Circular Quay to collect items, but we continued to collect all the way up until the Quay, with one bag overflowing and spilling due to being too full - that just goes to show how dedicated our members are😍. Today we had volunteers from Australia, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Vietnam and possibly other places that I didn't know about 😊. If we continue to have turn outs like this, we will need to order more tools! Look out for next month's clean up. I'm planning to return again to the beach or a suburban area such as Chatswood ☺️.

今日は色々な意味で想像を超えたグリーンバードでした！まず、登録者が活動日の数日前からいきなり増え続けて、道具が足りないことが分かったのでボランティアがチームを組んで二人でお掃除するようにすすめました。当日キャンセルとまた当日登録せずに来た方もいたから、最初はバタバタしていて、グループの出発が遅かったのですが、道具をボランティアに配ったりいっぱいになったゴミ袋を捨てたりしてくれた常連のボランティアさん達にいつも感謝しています💕！結局は年齢も国籍も多様性に富むグループでした！60代のお母様たちから4歳の男の子まで参加してくれた中、オーストラリアと日本はもちろん、韓国、ベトナム、ブラジル、そして他の国籍を持った方もいたと思います。ハイドパークを中心に活動がはじめ、予想以上にゴミが植物の下に眠ったりしていましたね。皆様が頑張って掃除してくれたおかげでその事実が明らかになり、こんな観光地でも市がちゃんと清掃に取り組んでいないことにがっかりしました。最近プラゴミによるシドニー湾の公害について記事を読んだし、どんなに小さい欠片でもプラゴミを拾う大切さを再度確認できました。環境のためにわざわざ週末にボランティアをしに来てくれた皆様、本当にありがとうございます！私たちを見た人たちはきっと少しでもゴミ問題について考えさせられたと思います。また来月の活動を楽しみにしております😀

日本語↓Microplastics are responsible for a large amount of the waste in Sydney Harbour. The statistics in this article were quite shocking. As Green Bird members, we are focusing on microplastics to help prevent them from entering ecosystems. Thank you always for your hard work!
シドニーハーバーを汚しているゴミの中でマイクロプラスチックが深刻な問題。グリーンバードはプラスチックを中心にゴミ拾い活動をしながら、海といった生態系にプラスチックが流れないように手伝っています。いつものご協力をありがとうございます💚🐦

Seabin operates 34 bins around the harbour which filter the water to capture microplastics and large plastics. The company say they collect up to 13,000 plastic items in the harbour every day. The impact has been dramatic since businesses were banned from giving out lightweight plastic bags in June last year.
"SeaBin" seen a reduction by 70 per cent of plastic shopping bags floating around in Sydney Harbour.
Despite the progress, the biggest waste issue is microplastics which has made up 44 per cent of the contents picked up by the bins. There are up to 5,000 microplastics per square metre in Sydney Harbour's shorelines. Most of what is found in the harbour is coming from our urban catchments; it's washing through the stormwater.

日本語↓Today was our first time venturing outside the city and the beach for a clean up, so I chose Burwood to see what it would be like! The main streets were relatively clean (minus a lot of cigarette butts as usual), which was actually a nice thing to see. However, as soon as we went into a back alleyway, we found a disgusting amount of rubbish. It’s quite sad how all of it is hidden from the public - and on a windy day like today, it could easily fly from where it was to anywhere in Sydney! We finished up at a park, focusing on small pieces of rubbish. As usual, plastic zip ties and styrofoam packaging was a problem. It just seems to end up in the strangest places. Despite there not being as much rubbish as some of the places we’ve visited before, one Green Bird member overheard two family groups educating their children about responsible waste disposal after seeing what we were doing. Someone else even asked members about Green Bird from their car window when stopped at a traffic light! So it seems like the Green Bird message is getting out there slowly, and we will keep trying to spread the message about littering through our activities :D Look out for the next city clean up which will be held next month!

今日は初めてシティとビーチではない所へ掃除しに行ってきました！選んだのは大きな中華街のあるバーウッドです。本通りは（タバコの吸い殻以外なら）割と綺麗でしたが裏道に入るとびっくりするぐらい大量のゴミがずっと拾わずにグリーンバードを待っていました汗。人目から離れた場所は市は放置しているように見えて、かなり悪い印象に残ったのでバーウッド市にゴミ問題について連絡するつもりです。今日みたいな風が強い日こそ裏道にあるゴミが風に吹かれて色々なところに散りばりそうで良くないと思いました。公園に向かって歩くと、車の窓からグリーンバードのメンバーに話しかけてくれた人や、私たちを指摘しながら子供にポイ捨ての悪さを教えてくれた親たちなどがいて、グリーンバードのメッセージが周りの人に伝わって良かったなと思っていました。どんな小さなプラゴミや吸い殻でも頑張って拾ってくれるグリーンバードのメンバーはいつも素敵でとてもありがたい人たちばっかりです！また来月の活動日を楽しみにしています！来週ごろイベント情報をアップしますので宜しくお願いします🦜💚

日本語↓Thank you to our lovely Green Bird members who made it out to the beach on a less than sunny day to volunteer their time. Together, we worked towards making the beach a nice place for all, while also trying to change people's perceptions around littering. My hope is that one person saw what we were doing today, and decided to throw their rubbish in the bin instead of leaving it on the path, a bench or in the bushes. We even had a guy randomly participate for around 10 minutes before heading off! Next week's event has been postponed but there will be another event coming up in May, so look out for it ☺️.

雨天気味の日にビーチまでお掃除にし来てくれた皆様、ありがとうございました☺️
今日は相変わらずタバコの吸い殻がいっぱいありましたね。ビーチに来るとマイクロプラスチックやタバコが拾われなかったらどこにたどり着くのかがすぐ目の前にあるので早く拾いたいと思えます。ビーチにいるとのんびりしている人ほど見る目もあるので、普段ポイ捨てをする人は私たちを見かけたことで、今日はポイ捨てやめようかなとポイ捨ての癖を直す一歩を踏み出せたかもしれません。グリーンバードの目的は人のゴミへの意識をすこしずつ変えるということと、街をより気持ちいい所にすることだからですね。今日来てくれた皆様はこの素敵な目的の達成に貢献したので、心から感謝しています。また５月に活動しますのでまたご確認下さい😃。