Hills volunteers take out the trash

Hills volunteers take out the trash

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Roleystone’s Wednesday Warriors are cleaning up the streets one rubbish bag at a time.

Roleystone roads have been cleaned of underpants, cigarette butts and even adult toy packaging thanks to the hard work of a group of responsible residents.

June Copley and the Wednesday Warriors volunteers meet twice a month at entry roads into Roleystone, determined to clean up their neighbourhood.

Last week the group managed to fill 19 rubbish bags in only an hour of cleaning but Ms Copley said even that amount was not a hugely surprising haul.

“We usually pick up between 12 and 18 bags in an hour,” she said.

“We’ve been going for a few years – it started off by myself, and with the help of social media it’s become quite a regular bunch now.

“The area is better than it was, but it’s sad that only 24 hours after doing it there’s often more rubbish to pick up.”

As their name suggests, the Warriors meet on Wednesdays at major entries to Roleystone usually in groups of up to 12 people.

As Roleystone is a tourist area, Ms Copley said she did not think visitors would have a positive impression if they were greeted with roadside rubbish.

She said she believed the job would be much easier and the area much more welcoming if people stopped littering and adopted a small part of their neighbourhood to keep an eye out for.

“It is a fineable offence if you get caught dumping rubbish – and even in bushfire season people have been reported for throwing cigarette butts out of car windows,” she said.

“It’s hard to believe the intelligence of some people.”

Ms Copley said the team often found items in the bush they suspected had been stolen including keys and wallets, which they tried to return to their owners, but had picked up more unusual items including cash, contraceptives, underwear and even a plastic container for an adult toy.

The toy, she noted, was not in the container.

“That had to be the funniest,” she said.