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Over the past few years, the Cooks River Alliance has worked with River Canoe Club and a number of local stakeholders such as the Cooks River Alliance and The Mullets to organise clean up events along the Cooks River. Building on the success of these past events, the River Canoe Club is pleased to announce our most ambitious environmental project for the Cooks River!

Our aim has been to develop a comprehensive litter prevention strategy to halve the waste across the Cooks River Catchment area by 2025. Through litter prevention, we want to create a ‘loved and healthy river valley enriching the heart of Sydney’ as part of the 2030 Cooks River Community Vision.

We want to hear from you if you are interested in helping to create a healthy and vibrant Cooks River.

Feel free to also sign up to our email list to stay updated on the progress and opportunities to get involved in the Cooks River Litter Prevention Strategy.

Strategy: We are pleased to make the draft Cooks River Litter Prevention Strategy available for you to read. We’re looking forward to continued feedback, discussions and new opportunities across the catchment – a range of suggested initial pilot projects is provided in the Strategy that may be of interest to you.

Aim: To develop a comprehensive and collaborative litter prevention strategy for the Cooks River with actions that will deliver 50% litter reduction over four years. To help achieve this, we aim to work collaboratively with a number of stakeholders such as schools, local businesses, local councils and local organisations. 

Goal: The strategy is an exciting step towards tackling the Cooks River litter problem at its source – before it has a chance to enter the river.

Funding: This project has been funded through a grant provided by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (NSW EPA) Community Litter Grant. The Strategy will be the first of its kind, addressing the complex problem of litter from a truly whole-of-catchment perspective. 

Next steps

Through this project, the River Canoe Club and the wider network is seeking to address the following gaps when it comes to litter in the Cooks River;

  1. Identify ways to shift focus on effective and coordinated litter prevention actions rather than litter clean up activities;
  2. Identify action plans that will help encourage positive behaviour changes within the catchment community to help reduce the amount of litter in the River by 50%;
  3. Help coordinate positive actions that are already being undertaken by stakeholders within the Cooks River catchment to strongly align policies, practices and messaging 

Useful information/resources:

Cooks River