Community & Business
12 March, 2026
Volunteers clean up 300kg of rubbish
A LARGE group of volunteers cleaned up 300kg of rubbish as part of the Mareeba Lions Clean Up Australia Day at the start of the month.
Mareeba Lions, aided by a large group of volunteers from Scouts, the gymnastics club, and the Air Cadets, gathered at the Mason Street park on 1 March for Clean Up Australia Day.
Several groups were allocated to clean areas of the Bicentennial Lakes from Granite Creek to McIver Road. The event took a few hours, with participants eager to clean up the environment, making it a happier, safer place for people and animals.
Lions also provided a free sausage sizzle, which was appreciated by the hungry workers.
“Sadly, 300kg of rubbish was removed from the area,” Mareeba Lions Club director Tom Braes said.
“This included shopping trolleys, chairs, cans, bottles, tents, steel posts, cigarette butts, alcohol containers, under clothing, and worryingly, used syringes that had not been properly disposed of.
“A few years ago, a used syringe was a rarity, but now they are commonplace
“Those who were tasked with the area along the railway line, in the vicinity of the Post Office, were disgusted with the amount of rubbish left lying about.
“Although several large bags of rubbish were removed, they reported that they could have remained there for ages, picking up the discarded filth.
“Congratulations to the volunteers who came out to clean up Australia, it was a fantastic effort by all.”
