Breakfast with a view

16.01. 2009

Dick Olesinski, South Port SLSC & SLSSA ECOSurf coordinator (SA), said his clubs recent Community Coastcare Breakfast promised a good view of South Port Beach and a greener future.

The clubs Ecosurf Breakfast on Saturday 29 November was held during Coastcare Week and was pitched at the general community, local Coastcare and other environmental groups and surf club members (particularly Nippers), with the object of encouraging partnerships between these groups.

Around 30 guests munched on cereal and fruit over a friendly cuppa as they perused displays by Coastcare and Ecosurf around the room early in the morning, while an additional 200 Nippers and their parents enjoyed the displays later in the day.

Dick says the breakfast was a thoroughly green event, with all materials used on the day able to be composted rather than disposed to landfill. These included cornstarch spoons, sugar fibre bowls, banana palm bio platters, cardboard cups and bio bags for waste disposal.

The event provided the opportunity for Coastcare and local environmental groups, state government coast and marine management authorities and the local Council to promote respective initiatives through displays set up within the clubrooms. The club also provided a range of displays to promote initiatives underway as part of SLSAs Ecosurf initiative.

Participating groups provided displays and giveaways and  included the South Port Noarlunga Coastcare group, Department of Environment and Heritages Marine Parks Unit, Office of Coast and Marine, Urban Biodiversity Units Coast & Marine Section, City of Onkaparinga, Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resource Management Board, Keep South Australia Beautiful (KESAB), SLSAs Ecosurf national junior training resources, as well as South Port SLSCs Ecosurf program.

The breakfast and information sharing day was declared successful and could provide a good model for our clubs.

Dick reckons there is great potential to encourage community involvement in the future by participating in an Ecosurf activity or similar promotion via a range of incentives (such as prizes, like a family ECO holiday, passes to visit National Parks, etc). Some clubs may be able to use surf stars or local identities to participate in such activities to raise the profile of the event within the local community.