The Inland Waterways River Repair bus has had a big few weeks, again launching a mission to help rid the Dubbo CBD and Macquarie River of not only scores of abandoned shopping trollies, but also box after box of syringes, fast food packaging and general waste.
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The work for the dole River Repair Bus was purchased with proceeds raised at the Lake Burrendong Easter Fishing Classic, and has so far removed 182 trailer loads of rubbish from the local river, and planted and maintained 7,322 native trees.
Using a grappling hook, rope, and plenty of muscle, discarded trolleys up and down the CBD strip of the local river were mustered up and heaped high on the River Repair Bus trailer, before being returned to their store of origin. River Repair Bus Co-ordinator David Harris said that all the trolleys appeared to ebb from two stores mainly, being Coles and Woolworths.
"Not one trolley we found was from Aldi, no doubt because Aldi have a simple and effective method where shoppers us a coin to get a shopping cart, which is returned when the trolley is returned." Mr. Harris told Dubbo Catches after this week's clean up.
"It would make the CBD a lot cleaner and tidier if other stores used this simple method for trolley management, instead of letting the carts be taken at will across the city, where sadly many of them make their way into the river, simply because kids think it's a fun thing to do" he said.
Dubbo is not alone in its fight against abandoned shopping trolleys, as nationwide many cities have had the same problem.
Harsh penalties can be issued to retailers who lose track of their shopping carts, and also to shoppers who abandon them, however after seeing the amount being dumped in the Macquarie River both locals and visitors of the city alike could easily come to the assumption that not much is being done to control trolley dumping at all.
The River Repair Bus, in its third year of work on the Macquarie River, vows to keep up the fight, ridding the local waterway of any and all rubbish, and to continue planting trees on the river banks that form habitat for wildlife and native fish.
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