photo by Peter Sturm
And what a day it was!
Early morning saw dark clouds rolling in from the west but fortunately as the site started coming to life they cleared and had perfect weather all day.
CWE organised bike racks in conjunction with the GCCC project “Active Travel – enjoy the way you move” and it was a success. We had approximately 60 bikes from all over the Gold Coast & Northern New South Wales. The bike riders were greeted with a welcome message, thanking them for helping to keep a lower carbon footprint for the event. For their sustainable practice, they were rewarded with a free recyclable water bottle. This project kept cars off the road reducing the carbon footprint of the event. Later in the afternoon we had a surprise visit from the lovely, talented 4 times world champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore who thought our initiative was an excellent one and commended the action.
Steph visits 🙂 photo by Stewart Maxwell from Maximum Surfboards
The other component of the day that Climate Wave was looking after was waste & recycling. We discovered early in the day that contamination levels were high even with monitoring was taking place. We reviewed the practises and will be advising of changes to reduce this problem.
CWE in conjunction with the Surfrider Foundation Gold Coast/Tweed branch promoted the campaign “RISE ABOVE PLASTIC” which aims to educate the public about the harm of plastic items used every day, especially plastic bags. Surfrider Foundation volunteers were walking around the event, literally dressed in hundreds of plastic bags (1 years’ worth) bringing awareness in an effective and positive way. We congratulate them for their effort and thank the Monsters for braving the very warm day.
Plastic Bag Monsters photo by Peter Sturm
It was a wonderful day that was well attended and everyone I spoke to including the market stalls, bands, caterers, Surf World, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Currumbin RSL and the event organiser were elated.
The next event in the festival that Climate Wave will be servicing is the Summer Surf Films at Queen Elizabeth Park, Coolangatta on the 18 & 19 Feb. check out the program http://bleachfestival.com.au/events/read/summer-surf-films/ looking forward to seeing you there!
Greg Howell & Guil Araujo
working with the planet