It was a hot and humid Sunday morning, but that wasn’t enough to turn away the hard-working volunteers participating in Clean Up Australia Day events around Maitland.
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Bags in hand, Natasha Lee of Thornton and Erin Page of East Maitland were among the working group of locals who took to the banks of the Hunter River at Maitland and Lorn with a keen eye on rubbish and litter.
Participants filled tens of bags with trash, much of it left over from New Years celebrations across the river bank.
Similar crews were at work at Thorton, Rutherford and Ashtonfield.
The annual clean up came the same week of Maitland receiving its first Return and Earn reverse vending machine, as part of a State government initiative to tackle the littering of bottles and containers.
Residents can earn a 10 cent refund for every bottle they recycle at the vending machine, located at Thornton BP.