Every year, Australians grab their gloves, head outside, and do something genuinely wonderful. They pick up rubbish from beaches, parks, riverbanks, and roadsides. They work alongside neighbours they've never met. They make their corner of the country a little bit cleaner and better.

Clean Up Australia Day has been bringing communities together since 1989, and what started as one man picking up rubbish on Sydney Harbour has grown into one of the most significant grassroots environmental movements this country has ever seen. Millions of volunteers. Thousands of sites. One very simple, very powerful idea: if we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.

And that idea doesn't have to stop when the cleanup is over.

At Eco Cheeks, March is our favourite month to talk about exactly this kind of thing. It's the heart of our MARCHing for Nature series, where we explore simple, practical ways to connect with the environment and live a little more sustainably. And Clean Up Australia Day feels like the perfect place to start.

This is part one of our MARCHing for Nature series.

What Is Clean Up Australia Day?

Clean Up Australia Day is an annual community event held every March, where volunteers across the country come together to collect rubbish and illegally dumped waste from local environments. It's free to participate, open to everyone, and one of the easiest ways to make a visible, tangible difference in your local area.

Since its founding in 1989 by Ian Kiernan, the event has collected hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish from Australian environments. Beaches, bushland, waterways, and urban spaces all benefit from the efforts of everyday Australians who show up, roll up their sleeves, and get stuck in.

You can find your nearest registered cleaning site at cleanup.org.au.

Why Does Litter Matter So Much?

It's easy to think of a single piece of rubbish as insignificant. But litter doesn't stay where it lands. Wind and rain carry it into stormwater drains, which lead to creeks, rivers, and eventually the ocean. Wildlife mistakes it for food. It breaks down into microplastics that enter the water supply and the food chain.

The impact of litter on Australian wildlife and waterways is well documented and genuinely serious. Seabirds, turtles, and marine mammals are among the most affected, ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic waste that was once someone's takeaway bag or drink bottle.

Cleaning it up matters. So does reducing how much of it we create in the first place.

How to Make the Most of Clean Up Australia Day

Getting involved is straightforward and genuinely fun, especially if you go with a group. A few tips to make the day count:

Bring reusable gloves and bags. Single-use plastic gloves and bin bags are a bit ironic at a cleanup event. Reusable gloves and sturdy bags you can wash and use again are a much better choice.

Sort as you go. Separate recyclables from general waste as you collect. It takes a little more effort on the day, but it makes a real difference to how much actually gets diverted from landfill.

Bring a reusable water bottle. You will need it. March in Australia is still very much summer in most parts of the country, and a cleanup is thirsty work.

Go with mates, family, or workmates. Everything is better with good company. Many workplaces also organise team cleanups as part of their community or sustainability commitments, which is a brilliant way to get a group involved.

Document it. Share what you find and what you collect on social media. It raises awareness, inspires others to get involved, and honestly, some of the things people find at cleanup events are genuinely astonishing.

Does Participating in Clean Up Australia Day Actually Make a Difference?

Yes, and the data backs it up. Since 1989, Clean Up Australia volunteers have removed over 330,000 tonnes of rubbish from the Australian environment. That's not a rounding error. That's the result of millions of ordinary people deciding to show up and do something, year after year.

But beyond the numbers, there's something equally important happening. Cleanups build community. They connect people to their local environment in a direct, physical way that changes how they think about it. People who participate in cleanups tend to produce less litter themselves and make more considered choices about waste and packaging going forward.

It's not just about the rubbish you pick up on the day. It's about the habits and awareness that follow.

How Everyday Choices Connect to the Bigger Picture

One of the most common realisations people have at cleanup events is just how much single-use plastic ends up in the environment. Plastic bags, straws, packaging, wrappers, and drink bottles. The overwhelming majority of litter found at Australian cleanups is plastic, and most of it is from everyday household and takeaway products.

Which is where the everyday choices really matter. Reducing single-use plastic at home, choosing products with less packaging, and swapping conventional products for lower-impact alternatives all quietly chip away at the problem between now and next March.

Switching to products like unbleached bamboo toilet paper, plastic-free tissues, and paper towels without the unnecessary chemical processing is exactly this kind of choice. It doesn't feel dramatic. But across a household, a year, and a community, it adds up.

How Eco Cheeks Makes Everyday Sustainability Easy

At Eco Cheeks, reducing unnecessary plastic and packaging is built into everything we make. Just like picking up rubbish on Clean Up Australia Day, the small choices we make every day add up to something much bigger.

Our 100% bamboo toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels are plastic-free, unbleached, and free from synthetic fragrances and dyes. The everyday essentials your household goes through constantly, made without the waste that usually comes with them.

But Eco Cheeks is about more than just better toilet paper. We are an Australian-owned brand on a mission to make sustainable living genuinely accessible for every household. Every roll you buy helps keep forests standing, protects your family from unnecessary chemicals, and supports causes like the Starlight Children's Foundation and Greenfleet's reforestation projects.

Read our full story here.

Ready To Show Up For Your Community This March?

Clean Up Australia Day is one day a year, but what about the choices that reduce litter and waste in the first place? Those happen every single day. Stay tuned for more practical ideas on sustainable living throughout March.

Ready to make a difference this March? Register for Clean Up Australia Day and join thousands of Australians taking action in their community.