Clean Up Australia community project at Redfern and Waterloo a great success!

With support from City of Sydney Council, the project was developed by Clean Up Australia in response to residents at the public housing estates expressing concern around the quantities and types of litter appearing on housing grounds. Clean Up Australia Project Officer Lucia Moon attended tenant community meetings at both Waterloo and Redfern estates and was made aware of an ongoing issue regarding rubbish disposal and accumulated litter within the outdoor living zones of housing areas.

Key litter items which were found across the estates included cigarette butts, vapes, soft plastics such as bags and chip packets, cans and bottles, glass and textiles. The six Clean Ups alternated locations between Redfern and Waterloo sites each month, and were attended by a diverse crowd of residents, including some regulars who took a liking to donning their gloves and doing something practical and beneficial for their local area!

Aunty Laura Sabatino, Torres Strait Islander woman and a resident at Redfern estate said: “I come from a community of people up in Torres Strait who get together and do activities like this.

“It’s really good to encourage other tenants to get involved and educate them around proper waste disposal.”

Aunty Laura had already been involved in community initiatives in the area, playing a leadership role in establishing the ‘Hour of Power’, which saw Redfern residents gather each Thursday at Poet’s Corner to participate in different activities, such as gardening or removing graffiti from public places. Clean Up Australia joined forces with the Hour of Power group and Redlink, a tenant support service, to run the litter Clean Ups around the Poet’s Corner community garden and surrounding streets.

At Waterloo, Clean Ups were centred around the Waterloo Neighbourhood Centre, which hosts weekly Waterloo Outreach events to engage with residents, provide access to services and give advice. Regular organisations present at the Outreach include Inner Sydney Voice, Redfern Legal Centre and Mission Australia. The Waterloo Neighbourhood Centre is also the permanent home of the Oz Harvest Market, which provides free groceries daily to all public housing residents.

The six Clean Ups across both Redfern and Waterloo were a great success, as residents were brought together in a social, fun and hands-on activity which reduced litter to maintain a tidy environment and prevented plastics from impacting wildlife or entering Sydney’s waterways.

At each event, on average 10 bags of litter were collected, with the largest event including 16 volunteers! Growing numbers of attendees participated each month, and shared learnings surrounding the impacts of litter on environmental health.
 
Clean Up Australia Project Officer Lucia Moon said: “It was a joy to facilitate Clean Ups in the Redfern Waterloo area.

“With regular events, I’ve felt a real sense of community and friendship developing, as well as increased pride and wellbeing in the community as tenants have been empowered to maintain clean and healthy public grounds.”

On the back of the program’s success, next year’s program is already in development, with another three Clean Ups planned for 2025 as well as two workshop sessions for public housing residents across the City of Sydney villages. The aim is to increase awareness on recycling and waste disposal practices, while facilitating social participation and collaboration within the community.
 

Sydney’s public housing communities come from a range of backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, low-income earners, people from culturally and linguistically diverse groups and LGBTQI+ communities. Working alongside residents at Redfern and Waterloo is always a joy and it has been wonderful to see increased participation and enthusiasm for Clean Ups across the year.

Clean Up Australia looks forward to continuing the project in 2025.




Lucia Moon is Project Officer at Clean Up Australia.