Keeping one Far North Queensland’s best strips of sand clean takes commitment, and since 2009, Tangaroa Blue has met that challenge.

Hosting monthly clean-ups on Four Mile Beach, where volunteers and other members of the Douglas Shire Community participate in removing rubbish from the sand is critical to its pristine condition.

Those efforts from the community have maintained a clean and attractive beach, preserving Port Douglas’ appeal as a tourist destination, encouraging visitors to continue visiting the area and supporting the local economy.

As part of my work experience placement with Newsport this week, I joined fellow Newman student Helena Erard at one of Tangaroa Blue’s monthly clean-ups – run by Lucy Seeary – to lend a hand and report on the story firsthand.

Tangaroa Blue are a foundation that work preventing and removing marine debris. They run many different projects that help with this, one of such being the clean-ups.

Meeting at Sheraton Mirage, Ms Seeary gave a briefing on how the clean-up worked and what to look out for while out on the beach.

Ms Seeary mentioned volunteer numbers can vary based on the time of year, but theevents typically get a lot of locals or semi-occasional tourists.

“On average, we’ll have about six or eight people each clean-up, which is enough given it’s a bit of a smaller beach,’’ she said.

The clean-up was structured like an emu parade that kids would do on a school camp. We walked up and down the beach picking up items found on the sand to store in a provided woven sack.

Ms Seeary commented on the weirdest item she’d found doing the clean-ups.

“We did once find a $50 note, which was a pretty good day. Other than that, I’d probably say the amount of rubber flip flops or thongs that we get,’’ she said.

“You wouldn’t believe how many we find.”

A full bottle of rum lying in the sand was another interesting find.

Ms Seeary said she was motivated by the fact that no matter how many times the clean-ups are done, they still find rubbish.

“I think the most rewarding thing is seeing the piles and piles of rubbish at the end of the clean-up and knowing that we’ve done our bit and removed that from the beach itself,’’ she said.

“My favourite part about the clean-ups is probably the people that I meet. A lot of our volunteers, they’re super passionate about environmental conservation.”

The last part of the event is to observe and sort the find with the rubbish separated into soft plastics, hard plastics, bottle caps, and larger items.

Keeping Four Mile Beach clean doesn’t happen on its own. Through Tangaroa Blue’s monthly clean-ups, our community is provided with a way to get involved and help maintain its pristine condition.