Tangaroa Blue Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that runs beach clean up events all over Australia, and sometimes even internationally, like New Zealand. It is run by Heidi Taylor who I was privileged to meet 8 years ago. Tangaroa Blue was only 3 years old then and she was trying to be included as an activity at a sleep over event I was organising at the Reef HQ Aquarium (in Townsville) for some lucky school kids who were been rewarded with a treat for being champions at their school. I liked the concept that Tangaroa Blue was promoting - to clean the dirty beaches and figure out where this rubbish was coming from to stop it from getting there in the first place. Heidi's goal is that she doesn't have a job in the future.....because if this was to happen then we wouldn't need to clean beaches any more! From this first sleep over event, Heidi and I joined forces and often worked with school kids, teaching them about the threat marine debris can pose to wildlife and the environment. Then we started to work with indigenous communities and indigenous land & sea rangers and the program just kept growing from year to year in leaps and bounds. Even though Heidi and I no longer work together, I still believe whole heartedly in the objectives of Tangaroa Blue and their aim to protect and preserve the marine and coastal environment by reducing marine debris. And when I am available, I still like to volunteer at the clean ups. 
 
Over the years, Tangaroa Blue has made an impact not only to individuals and communities, but it has also made legislative changes that are the beginnings of really big changes . And it is because of the simple act of picking up rubbish that these outcomes can be reached - which is inspiring. I love the saying "Think globally, act locally" - which essentially means big things can happen from little things, so why not start at home, in your own backyard (i.e. at your own local beach). If everyone took care of their patch, then it would all be better taken care of!

Logistically, cleaning the beach at Snapper Island is a challenge. But it is something that has happened for a number of years and it keeps getting easier and easier as we keep repeating the event. Each year, the amount of rubbish collected is reduced, but it does still keep washing up and so the clean ups continue. Snapper Island is named so because the profile of the island looks like a crocodile, and it is easily reached by boat from Port Douglas - approximately 45mins drive north of Cairns on our own mini "great ocean road". Generous boat support is provided by 2 local companies in Port Douglas and SUP board support is also very useful when the tide drops too much for the support boats to get close enough to the beach to pick up rubbish bags. In this case, the bags are loaded on to the SUP boards and paddled out to the boats! 

After a days work of cleaning the beach and then sorting and recording the rubbish collected, a delicious lunch was shared together on this beach paradise before a quick circle of the island and heading back into Port Douglas. 

Tangaroa Blue heavily relies on the support of their volunteers, donations, grants and in-kind support. If you would like to support the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, either through a donation or by helping out at the next clean up event, please visit www.tangaroablue.org