First started by Ian Kiernan in 1990 in response to his indignation about the polluted state of the world’s oceans, Clean Up Australia Day has become Australia’s largest community-based environmental event, which over the last 20 years has seen the collection of over 200,000 tonnes of rubbish nationwide and the donation of 24 million volunteer hours.

As well as Clean Up Australia Day, the Clean Up Australia organisation runs a series of campaigns that advocate for a cleaner environment and more sustainable lifestyles which include:

• Schools Clean Up Day
• Clean Up the World

The Clean Up Australia website also has a number of useful resources for schools, including:

• an excellent series of fact sheets about waste
• lesson plans and classrooms activities
• rubbish reports
• a carbon offset calculator

There are a number of activities and campaigns that schools can become involved in through Clean Up Australia. Schools Clean Up Day is an annual event linked to the Clean Up Australia campaign that allows schools to demonstrate care for their local environment while participating in a nationwide community activity. Many schools use the school clean up event as part of their environmental education program and include it as a waste education action in their School Environmental Management Plan.

Schools Clean Up Day is held on the Friday before the first Sunday in March.

There are a number of activities and campaigns that schools can become involved in through Clean Up Australia. Schools Clean Up Day is an annual event linked to the Clean Up Australia campaign that allows schools to demonstrate care for their local environment while participating in a nationwide community activity. Many schools use the school clean up event as part of their environmental education program and include it as a waste education action in their School Environmental Management Plan.

Schools Clean Up Day is held on the Friday before the first Sunday in March.