Rise and Shine aims to increase civic pride, accelerate environmental improvement and increase quality of life for present and future generations. Rise and Shine is a campaign encouraging community participation in a range of activities to improve the environment that in turn will benefit the quality of life enjoyed by local residents. The Campaign commenced in 1986, and each year comprises a number of key programs and features including:
The Spring Clean Up Program
This program is open to volunteer community groups and individuals to participate in removing rubbish and litter that has accumulated in public areas such as parks, creeks, beachfront reserves, etc. The program encourages participants to “take the next step” and remove invasive weeds such as Bitou Bush and lantana as they clean the area selected and plant native seedlings. Rubbish collected by the volunteers is removed by Council staff or waste contractors that have sponsored the provision of bulk waste storage bins where required.
Schools’ Environmental Improvement Competition
This program, with cash awards sponsored by BlueScope Steel, aims to foster the development of environmental management plans for schools and to implement innovative environmental improvement strategies. The program is broken into a number of categories to encourage participation.
World Environment Day
Wollongong City Council in conjunction with other Government and private organisations, hosts over 25 environmental workshops at the Wollongong Botanic Garden. This is an annual event for year five and six students which aims to provide a range of educational experiences linked to the current environmental curriculum.
Clean up Australia Day
This great event for all Australians to take part in a nationwide occurring annually on the first Sunday of March. Wollongong City Council encourages the community to participate and clean up during the first weekend in March. Council provides clean up bags to schools and community groups to assist in this event. Clean up efforts focus on removing as much litter and rubbish as possible from stormwater drains and watercourses which lead to larger waters, and bushlands used for recreation purposes.
The Annual Presentation Evening
Participants of Rise and Shine are awarded certificates in recognition of their efforts, and special awards are presented to groups and individuals considered to have excelled during the year. A survey of participants 2 years ago confirmed that the acknowledgement accorded by Council through the Presentation Evening is a feature of the Campaign.
To encourage a sense of ownership by the community, many of the Campaign programs are organised around a general philosophy of the participant groups identifying the activity they wish to undertake. For example, a group may volunteer to clean up an area or section of a creek they have determined requires attention. The group will then determine the resources required completing the task and when the work will be done. It is normal for items such as bags for the collection of rubbish, hire of large waste containers and the cost of transportation and tipping charges to be borne by Council or to be covered by sponsorship agreements arranged between Council officers and local providers.
Linkages with schools, community groups, industry leaders, government agencies, and service organisations have been developed, and these are put to use in the Campaign. From its beginning, components of the Campaign have been sponsored by different organisations. For example, media outlets provide coverage of the various events and highlights, while the educational column is again given free exposure in the newspapers and through community service announcements on commercial radio. BHP provides $4,000 sponsorship for the Schools’ Environmental Competition. Local waste contractors provide bulk waste containers when required and these, plus transportation, are at no cost to Council.
For more information on the Rise and Shine Campaign, email rise&shine@wollongong.nsw.gov.au