Unless you're a surfer chasing heavy swells, winter time is not generally associated with days at the beach. For most people, there's too much nip in the air and an uncomfortable chill in the water.
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For others, however, the sea and the beach is not some fair-weather friend, whose acquaintance is only made when the sun is out and the weather fine. And among those people who make a beach walk part of the daily routine are some who pick up rubbish as they go.
While these individual efforts might seem like a drop in the ocean compared with the global rubbish problem, they are all part of a worldwide effort to rid the oceans of the plastics that are threatening marine life around the planet.
Added together, the walkers who do their bit every morning from Kiama down to Eden, are making a difference. Whether they're picking up rubbish from Culburra Beach, Mollymook or Bingie, their efforts ared helping change the mindset that says our oceans are convenient dumping grounds.
You can see the fruits of their labour not only in the bags of rubbish removed but in the growing awareness that we can no longer rubbish our oceans.
We have a long way to go but already we are seeing plastic straws being phased out by cafes and schools, along with single use plastic bags. Some hotel chains, such as Mandarin Oriental, are removing plastic water bottles, replacing them with glass.
This growing consciousness is in its infancy but consumers have the power to keep the momentum going.
We've seen an assault on pointless, wasteful packaging being embraced by movements such as Green Caffeen, which replaces one-use takeaway coffee cups with swap and go cups. It's spreading down the South Coast.
The initial resistance to the phasing out of single-use plastic grocery bags by the big supermarket chains has all but died down as consumers have made reusing shopping bags a habit.
This is all good news because we have much to protect in our part of the world. Compared to coastlines in other parts of the world, ours is in great shape. You see it in the clarity of the water, in the abundance of fish, dolphins, whales, seals and birds.
We all have a role to play to keep it this way, whether it's picking up the litter at the beach or saying no to silly packaging.
