Great Barrier Reef Festival Recyclable Regatta event planning under way in Whitsundays
Think you can make an awesome raft from recyclable materials and row your way to glory? You can find out at the Great Barrier Reef Festival!
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In just a few months competitors will jump on rafts made from recyclable materials and paddle towards glory as part of a major Whitsundays event.
Now is the time to start planning if you want to be involved in this year's Recyclable Regatta, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef Festival.
The festival is proud to announce a major sponsor for this year's regatta is Anything Environmental.
The family owned and operated business has the contract for the Collect Refund Point for the Queensland Government's Containers for Change program and has depots in Jubilee Pocket and Proserpine as well as Mackay.
Owned by Jason Morley and Jo Higgins, Anything Environmental is proud to be helping the community, rather than letting waste go to landfill.
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Ms Higgins said they were excited to be part of this year's festival and that the Recyclable Regatta highlighted the need for more recycling.
"Recycling is our passion," she said.
"It's all about protecting the environment and the beautiful Great Barrier Reef."
Recyclable Regatta co-ordinator Andrea Farley said it was a great chance to reuse items that reflected the lifestyle in Airlie Beach.
The festival will be held August 5-8 and the Recyclable Regatta is one of the feature attractions of the festival each year.
The rafts must be made out of recyclable materials but any type of oar or paddle could be used.
The event is open to all ages and provides great family fun. There can be a maximum of three people in each crew.
"It's a great way to bring the community together and the event highlights the importance of protecting the Great Barrier Reef," Mrs Farley said.
She said people planning to take part should start collecting materials now to build their rafts.
Tourism Whitsundays chief executive officer Tash Wheeler said the Recyclable Regatta was a great way to highlight the importance of recycling to preserve our natural environment.
"The Whitsundays is home to so many natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, 74 islands and ancient rainforests, any little step we can take to keep this part of the world pristine and educate our community is an essential one," she said.
Great Barrier Reef Festival chair Margie Murphy said the festival would be celebrating its 21st birthday in 2021 and she was pleased the event would be going ahead after being cancelled last year because of COVID-19.
"We will ensure we comply with COVID regulations in 2021 and are very excited that the Recyclable Regatta will be part of the festival again," she said.
"Anything Environmental is the perfect partner for this event."
Registrations for the regatta have not opened yet but now is the time to start collecting your materials to build your raft.
For further information regarding the Recyclable Regatta, phone co-ordinator Andrea Farley on 0407 798 876.
Originally published as Great Barrier Reef Festival Recyclable Regatta event planning under way in Whitsundays
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