Rochy Clean Up organiser wins Environment award

Her drive to keep waterways clean is not the only reason to celebrate the contributions of Rochester resident Janice Wilson, who is winner of the Environment Heart Volunteer Award.

Clear thinking: Clean Up Australia volunteer Janice Wilson. Picture: Zoe Phillips

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JANICE Wilson has a knack for recruiting environmentally conscious locals to help keep Rochester’s waterways clean.

The dedicated volunteer has co-ordinated Clean Up Australia events in the town since 2014.

She organises a group that meets at least twice a year to remove leaf litter and plastics from the Campaspe River.

“I just love to see the environment and public spaces nice and clean,” said the 67-year-old, who first became involved in Clean Up Australia Day in 2005, when she was living in Melbourne.

After moving to Rochester in 2014 to be a carer for her mother, she started her “Clean Up Rochy” group to continue the tradition.

“Rubbish goes into the river and the river takes it to the ocean, and we all know the catastrophes that happen once it gets to the ocean for the wildlife,” Janice said. “I’m always on the lookout for new people. I make it my business to ask people to help, and I get refused – but that is because they are not passionate about environmental issues. It is the ones who are that will step on board.”

Janice first started volunteering 20 years ago, tutoring English as a second language to newcomers to Australia.

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Her enthusiasm for multicultural harmony has spilled into her environmental volunteerism, where many of the Clean Up participants are migrants to Australia.

“The wonderful thing about it is the cultural diversity of it all. I’ve had people from many different countries join,” she said.

“That is exciting in itself.

“If it wasn’t for Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan, none of this would be happening. He is our hero.”

Janice’s passion for keeping the state’s waterways and native landscape clean, combined with her enthusiasm for multicultural inclusion, makes her a worthy winner of the Environment Heart Volunteer Award.

The Weekly Times Heart Volunteer Awards are supported by the Powercor Country Festival.