The Let’s Strain the Drains Project is a Victorian-first monitoring project of marine debris in Port Phillip Bay. To address the increasing amount of litter washing up on Port Phillip Bay beaches, 120 stormwater drain traps have been installed in consultation with the six councils. Each trap is emptied every six weeks, and the contents sorted and counted for inclusion in the Australian Marine Debris Initiative Database. We are looking for volunteers to assist us in this auditing process.

The contents captured in the traps will be sorted and counted, providing data to the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database which is used to identify specific information on sources and distributions of litter originating from urban areas that would normally flow through the stormwater system into Port Phillip Bay. We are inviting volunteers to join us for one or more days to assist in the sorting, counting and auditing of what litter items were captured in the stormwater drain traps in the last 6 weeks.

The audits will take place: - 4th March - from 8am - 4pm at St Kilda - this event is now full; - 5th March - from 8am - 4pm at Moorabbin; - 6th March - from 8am - 2pm at Point Cook. Volunteers are able to attend for the full day or just a morning/afternoon session.

The data collected along with an analysis report will be presented at a community forum to assist in the development of local source reduction plans that aim to mitigate the types of litter documented.

This project is delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation, Cleanwater Group and Sustainability Victoria with support from the Cities of Wyndham, Hobson’s Bay, Moreland, Kingston, Maribyrnong, and Greater Dandenong.