Kayaking the sickest urban river in Australia 

I can very much understand your frustation. I´ve been doing river clean-ups for almost a year now and there is so much trash. All kinds of plastics, car tires, I even found motor oil containers. It´s just terrible so see all this thrown into our rivers. I really hope that through videos like yours this problem will get a lot more attention. Goodonya

This man's storytelling ability is incredible. The little back in time segment was brilliant.

I am usually a pre-dawn runner, but after a rare afternoon run in the sun I noticed just how trash covered my usual routes are. I have now gone on a few runs with my kid's stroller, some trash bags, and rubber gloves to start the clean up process. Thanks for the inspiration!

As a Sydney sided myself, I drive past the river everyday and think nothing of it. We think about doing things to help but never seem to get around to doing them. This makes me feel so much more motivated to be honest. I never thought I’d ever feel so connected to the land I’ve lived on for my whole life. I want to help now. Not for praise or attention, but for the land itself. Truly inspiring.

I reackon cleaning up these sort of waterways would be perfect for people serving a community service sentence. They'd be doing good for the local community, the environment, the local infrastructure, plus it'd be a hard and unpleasant enough experience to act as a significant deterrent.

I run the same path roughly 3-4 times a week. After a year plus of passing the same glass bottle, I stopped my run, picked it up, and recycled it. I've now made picking bottles and plastic part of my regular runs. In fact I feel bad if I haven't at least picked up one thing on a run and disposed of it properly. It's watching films like this that push me to keep at it. Keep up the amazing work Beau!

Also worth keeping in mind that most of the plants that are in the 'wild' areas you're going through are invasive weeds that have carpetted the joint.

You are doing absolutely phenomenal work mate. I’m from New Zealand and our rivers are becoming much the same; the green washing and denial from the people is disgusting. I hope we can let nature heal the way it needs too, and soon.

Give this man his own tv-series! Such a natural entertainer. Just by being himself! Keep up the good work lad!

“Feeling feral is perhaps the most liberating space a human can dwell…” those sentences literally hit me and made me feel 10 again. Excellent use of words.

Most people doing this sort of 'river adventure' would star at the mouth and travel upstream until it got too difficult. That would mask the problem. The fact that you went the other way is amazing. It really opened my eyes to the rubbish in particular. Hopefully a video like this can inspire others to make a really good clean-up effort.

This hurts me and inspires me at the same time. I live in Alaska and I often see tourists leaving used diapers, beer/soda cans, snack sized chip bags, and plenty of other things on the banks of our once pristine riverbanks and coastlines. Not saying locals don't do it too but the massive influx of tourism in the summers really blows your mind when you see the impact is has on nature.

I'm a kayak guide in Japan. It was really shocking for me to see lots of plastic garbage in the sea or coastline. I learned Australia is the same as Japan from your video. Thank you for sharing it. We have to change our lifestyle.

For the last 25 years, I lived near beautiful, almost pristine Aussie beaches, and enjoyed morning and afternoon beach walks while marvelling at their beauty. And every day for me - every single day - was "Cleanup Australia Day", picking up the rubbish that lazy, careless tourists and locals had left behind, and rubbish that had washed up onto the beach from elsewhere. During this time, I removed 100's of wheelie bins full of rubbish from these beaches. My parents did the same. As did a few other locals. Most people would look at me with stunned amazement as they stood by and watched me drag away everything from car tyres to bags full of plastic bottles, discarded rubbish, and washed up bait bags, but they rarely joined in the effort. Sometimes people ask me if I want to take part in this year's Cleanup Australia Day, and I just shake my head. I do it everyday. Anyway, really appreciate your work and the tour of Cooks River, although it was heart breaking to see the rubbish ... +1 Like. +1 Subscriber.

What I love most about these videos is how Beau perfectly demonstrates what it means to retain childlike wonder into adulthood. Everything is new, and cool, and fun, and worth experiencing to him. I aspire to be more like that. Keep up the amazing work Beau, you're an inspiration.

I haven't lived in Sydney for 35 years now, your video just appeared so i thought i will have a look at this I'm glad i did very good enjoyed it. When they cleaned up Homebush bay for the 2000 Olympics they couldn't understand how the mullet were alive then alone surviving, they caught some and apparently they had evolved extra livers and kidneys to filter out the toxic environment they were living in, just like the turtle in your video must have done to be able to live in that waterway, rather sad isn't it.

Bloody hell, this should be shown on television here in Aus, we give stick to places like Indo for having filthy garbage filled rivers while most of us don't even realise that we have them too, we just keep ours conveniently out of mind out of site.

Beau is one of those friends you wish you can see more often

Man, just came across that vid...what you do, raising awareness for the mess us humans create in nature, is heroic and can't be honored enough. Thanx for your work. Greetings from Germany.

10:29 that shot just breaks my heart, it really does. I wish people could see how damaging plastic is for the environment, and I wish more people cared. Honestly heartbreaking to know how careless people are. I hope one day all rivers are clean and healthy again

Beau, I just shared this with my over 300 newsletter subscribers and volunteers here in SE Vermont (USA). I stumbled across this video today, quite by happy accident (hat tip: Bob Ross). In 2000, my husband and I were walking around the town we'd just moved to, and found our way to a bridge spanning a lovely river. Midway across, I hopped up to look over the railing because I love rivers...I wanted to see a duck or beaver or fish or something. Instead, I saw tires, shopping carts, and cement blocks in the water. "That's terrible!" I sputtered..."Somebody should DO something about it!" My husband elbowed me in the ribs and responded, "Well, YOU'RE 'somebody'." He was right. I got started, with just a couple of co-workers that I roped into helping - and I've never stopped. I'm currently organizing my 23rd annual RiverSweep cleanup, an event that is just one of many that I conduct as Founder and Director of the Black River Action Team (which, by the way, I run in my 'spare time' from my full time desk job). "You're 'somebody'" continues to be my mantra, the core of my mission of stewardship - it's up to each and every one of us to take the time to step up, step in, and be willing to get filthy in order to keep our river clean and healthy. I watched your video with emotions that ranged from aghast outrage to agape inspiration. Good on ya, mate!!! Keep up the incredible work.

Watched this and immediately went outside and picked up litter for 5 hours. I think I live on the cleanest block in New York City now. What a way to spend a day - thanks for the inspiration!

Gd on ya mate. The planet needs more blokes like you.

Almost wanted to cry seeing that trash it never gets easier thank you for doing that.

I can relate to this, I have been clearing up the rural roads near my home for the last few years. Once, a person driving past stopped and asked why I was "dumping garbage". I showed her the bags of trash in my car and she was surprised. She told me that she lived less than a kilometer away yet she never stopped to pick up trash. She thanked me and drove off. I have never seen anyone else cleaning the roadside. This video made my day. Thank you.

I'm trying to imagine the efforts required to film this so nicely. I wanna see your camera man's perspective following you through this sewers. Would like to see a behind the scenes

This is genuinely film festival documentary award winning stuff. Amazing!

You truelly are a blessing to this Earth. I have ventured along the Georges River NSW and it was putrid. So I drove to bunnings bought gloves and bags. Went back and cleaned up the area where everyone picnics. It was like a Rubbish tip. I couldn't walk away from it. Fishing line . Plates left there where everyone sat. Used baby nappy etc. I really felt heartbroken with all that rubbish. I even felt tears in my eyes watching your journey. This was truelly amazing to watch.

Literally my dad... we did these kind of adventures in the adelaide hills as kids with my dad. We would walk everywhere and my father taught us to pick up as much rubbish on the way. We turned it into a game and it became a competition of who could find the best thing each day as we picked up everything we could. We were diving into deep bushes and getting into places only rubbish would fall into over a long time. I can second how much I enjoyed it because it became something fun aswell as cleaning the environment, I miss those days.

Some network has to give this guy a show with a huge budget. His adventures are always so inspiring and entertaining

What a incredible interesting journey. Thank you for taking me along. Very educational.

This was so easy to watch and truly enjoyable to see you trying to spread the word

"felt like doing something illegal by coming in and doing this" - great sentence. I love how you shed light on different perspectives and things that should matter a lot more than they do in our everyday lives.

I cleaned up a lake near my last area, took a few months, bags and bags of trash. I was the only person was doing it too. And at the end, saw more wildlife enter the lake, you see the negative impact this stuff has and what happens when it's gone. Yet there are thousands that live in the area. A lot of impact can come from the actions of even a small uptake of individuals. However the new area I've moved to. It's an uphill battle. People don't care, dump rubbish routinely. The level of care to give an example is that they don't even bother picking up a piece of rubbish on their nature strip to dump in the bin they just wheeled out. This idea of maintaining this rubbish, minimising it, etc, needs to start early.

Thank you so much for bringing awareness 🙏

thank you so f*****g much for your existence, I'm from Italy and to watch your videos make me happy and more near you and you make me feel less alone, despite the distance

You’re a good man Beau - you’ve inspired me to get out and tidy the country lane by my house this evening after work. Something I’ve done before and stopped doing out of frustration, but you are right we all need to show our environments some love - if we don’t, who will.

10:07 brought me to tears. We have one home, Earth, and the least we can do is take care of it. You're doing an incredible service.

This is filmed and narrated like an actually tv show, it’s incredible editing and camera work

Thank you for cleaning up..it's a great signal for others. THANK YOU! You are so great!

I'm a recovering addict and I was told by a really amazing human being that the best way to recover is to look around at the world, see what needs doing and do that. A lot of people will look at this and think why is this crazy guy wading through trash in this filthy river, but for me, that feeling you get from doing things that truly need to be done is the only thing that makes my life feel full.

This is honestly what we need more of, all of us know the damage we are causing but if you could document more places lost to humans like this it could open peoples eyes.

Great delivery Beau! Really hitting home the terrible facts with this one. Your students are lucky to have you opening their eyes to life.

Love what you do brother I think you should be given the title Aussie of the year I'm glad I just found your channel one love and many more blessings

It’s crazy how much money our cities can run through without properly taking care of the actual place. Great video and outlook, much appreciated from the states.

Your storytelling is unparalleled, Beau. I find myself both energised and heartbroken when you share your perspective. I still use too many plastics.

That needs to go on every TV in every country we need more people like you in the world 🌎 good on ya mate 👍

Thanks for sharing 1 of the 1000's & 1000's of problems we have in Australia. Awesome Video, great voice, video, and cleaning up in our rivers, oceans & land. Thank you

Beau, in upstate New York, there's a body of water called Onondaga Lake. It was one of the most heavily polluted lakes in the world (industrial pollution and sewage overflow), but over the last decade has been revitalized and is "safe to swim" now but the shorelines are restored, walking and biking paths, bridges, it's beautiful again. It's not fast but change can happen.

10:07 Was hard to watch. That was really tough. My main river is in the same condition and my city boasts some of the richest people in the world. Devastating to watch. This needs millions of views. We need to see what we're doing with plastics. Thank you for doing this. It is a real sacrifice for you to take this on.

Thanks for that. I really appreciate the message in what you are doing. Keep it up!

This was the first video of yours that I have watched. I'm now inspired to seek out once wild areas in my community and see what I can do to clean them up. Thank you for allowing us to come along on your little adventure.

As somebody that has canoed the Cooks river on and off for over 30 years, it's wonderful to see somebody draw attention to it. A forgotten drain, that desperately needs some love.

In 1978 as a freshman in H.S., I typed (yes, typed) a report on the pollution I encountered in Trout Brook in Brockton, MA. And sent it to the Mayor. I could walk under the bridges on the trash and drag my canoe with me. Today, it isn’t perfect but it has improved. Keep up the good work.

Instant follow, obsessed with your passion and childlike wonder you see the world through. Thank youuuu

So watchable. Very thought provoking as usual Beau

A video intended to educate on the pollution of a river became a life lesson on positivity for me mate. You radiate positive vibes with every word you utter. There’s so much to learn from that. Thank you for making this video!

The perfect combo, Beau's winning personality and some documentary-quality editing and videography. This channel as well as The Backyard Adventurer have really inspired me to change my idea of adventure. After returning from a 4+ month long hike of the Appalachian Trail I became a little disheartened that I wouldn't ever get to experience such a life changing journey like it again. Maybe that's true but you have encouraged me to get creative with making micro adventures with the time that I do have in between "life". That philosophy is something everyone can implement I believe. Not a bad bonus that you are shedding light on some crappy river treatment or learning more about local history.

22:57 Brooooo, talk about foreshadowing hahaha. Beau truly is a man of his word

Great eye opener, TFS. This should be part of every school curriculum. Whenever I walk, I try to pick up rubbish I pass. What a difference it would make, if everyone did a little bit everyday

My mum and dad grew up on the banks of the Cook's River, there were Market gardens in Campsie then. He used to swim and catch Bream and other fish and bring them home for dinner. A mate of mines house backed into the upper parts of the river in the late eighties early nineties, (it was basically a concrete drain with bricked sides )the neighbours both nextdoor and on the other side would use it as a garbage disposal. Sad how people can treat nature and not think about the effects of what They do

Beau, mate, you are Australians alternative adventure icon! Absolutely love your messages and your lust for life and the lives of other creatures and beings. Cudos to the camera team too!

I've never seen your channel before today but this was jackpot, thank you Beau, thanks for cleaning the river and making this film, I hope more take up the challenge x

Some schools here in the United Sates requires students to provide a certain amount of community service hours to graduate. One of my service jobs was a river cleanup. We pulled so much junk out of the local city river. Hopefully students keep up the good work!

I myself have lived near the cooks river, i know family that still do, friends, relatives, much of my childhood spent around this place. Yet, until today, I was completely oblivious to how sick this river is. We werent educated about it (keep in mind this is modern day too im only 17 boutta graduate high school) never on the news, never seen any articles on it. Its just truly sickening and I am glad to see you are helping turn this shit the right way round. By reading the other comments, it is clear you have inspired others to do the same with their own community as you have inspired me to do with my own cooks river. Keep up the good work man, keep inspiring others to follow in your lead

It's disgusting to see what we have done to the planet, thank you for these eye opening videos.

you are doing so much good! thank you so much.

My favourite shot of this piece is the one of the UPS plane at the end. An excellent representation of our poor habits. It's a right kick in the guts seeing the sick river caused by our apathy and consumption and have that shot at the end of the journey. It seems absolutely fitting that this ends at the airport, looking at our marvels and potentially our demise. We're doomed and I'm afraid we don't really give a damn. Thanks for putting this together. Excellent work, Mitch and Beau. Good to see you.

This is one of the most compelling videos on RU-vid! That "bottleneck" section, with debris so deep that the water surface was no longer visible, was a reality slap in the face! What a visual lesson for all of us. I wondered what happened to all those full bags of plastic...and here you are at a recycling center...and there is so much outright trash in that river...a sad commentary on modern life. Thank you for posting this revealing video...much appreciated!

This is an amazing documentary. Love your videos.

Thank you for this wonderful video about the state of Cooks River.

You've inspired me to go back to King John Creek near my farm 40km North of Brisbane with a few chaff bags. It's sadly lined with trees full of plastic for tens of km. I'll take my go pro along to share the experience this time as soon as summer arrives. Thankfully there's little sign of sewage.

I’m thankful RU-vid algorithms sent this vid to me . Was amazing to see you’re storytelling and you’re teams camera work/ drone skills Thanks for what you are doing and I hope millions see this

Thanks for your love of our environment!

Wow I’ve driven over that river often in my life and never gave it a thought other than how underwhelming it looked. I appreciate you and your video, which has encouraged me to pick up crap left behind. Thank you for your work!!! I will certainly look at this river differently now. 🌎

"Feeling feral is perhaps the most liberating space a human can dwell." Yes!😍 Love your work. Very poignant. I worked in conservation and clean up along the Darebin and Merri Creeks ( tributaries of the Yarra) in Melbourne, in 1991-93. Darebin was listed on the city plans as 'Drain 18'. It is incredible the difference it makes when these spaces are cleaned of rubbish and weeds, revegetated with indigenous vegetation, and paths and footbridges put in. Gorgeous bushland, breathing, living, wildlife-inhabited veins and arteries of our Earth, running for miles in the busiest of cities. An old man came to us and shook our hands fervently, with tears in his eyes, saying, " i used to fish in that creek, as a boy. You've brought it back'. Turtles, kingfishers, lizards, water rats, even platypus returned. Merri Creek now has a " Spirit Walk", with indigenous cultural signage along the way.

So genuine! So many content creators make videos for the sake of views, likes, and subscribers. Beau, your content inspires people to be a better version of themselves. Keep it up!

Amazing work! Keep it up and thank you

Good on you Beau. What an inspiring video.

It’s amazing that my whole life I’ve seen only Sydney’s harbour to be “dirty”, but to see the real state of Sydney just makes me sad

Beau, this video in many ways was relatable. I’m from the US, specifically NJ and we have many sick rivers like the one you went through. I’ve found myself in a similar situation to you when you were just overwhelmed by trash in that one section, and I too tried to clean up. This may sound corny but I haven’t really met anyone, being a guy teenager, thst has really seemed to care, or even make the venture to those areas, they jsut kind of looked away and rationalized it internally, and that’s exactly the opposite of what you did. Not sure if you’ll even read this, but thanks for letting me know i wasn’t the only crazy boy to do something like that and try to alleviate it

Thanks beau for making me aware and your hard work and effort

Thank you for raising awareness!

Beau I want to thank you sincerely. I live close to the Cooks River and I am fully aware of how bad it really is. I have shared this video on my facebook page in the hope that more people will be aware. I hope it goes viral mate.

This is absolutely heartbreaking. I don't normally comment on videos but your work is incredible and thank you so much for bringing awareness and attention to the harsh realities of urbanisation and the effect it has on our immediate ecosystem. When you chuck rubbish away, you just expect it to disappear but understanding the damage this 'junk' causes is important in setting together a future where everyone is more conscious of the effects and we can all make works toward restoration. Really appreciate your effort and goal mate.

Thank you for inspiring through action!

Hi Beau, algorithm brought me here and I noticed the name is somehow familiar! This is Vincent from Monash and I used to assist you with your field trip costing & stuff back in the Education days. I am still with the University and mainly supporting the Research Portfolios now. It's just fascinating to see our researchers combine Career & Interest and become an influencer. Great channel by the way you just brought things to a whole new level and please keep up the good work!

Beau- This was great. I think you are making a big difference in the world and you make me smile while you do it. Cheers, Steve aka The Talking Fly

Heartening to see there's a whole community of people like us out there, doing rubbish clean ups. There are times when reclearing regular spots or seeing large dumping spots where it can get so disheartening. LOVED when he found the super ball lol. we started out doing trash pick up when we were walking our dog everyday. The moment the bag gets put down for sorting at home, our staffy is right there wanting his trash treasure !. He loves super balls. Im a sculptor and a lot of my Assemblage works are made from trash we have found on our clean ups. Great work buddy !. can't wait to get through your video adventures now we have found them !.

Your video was really entertaining. Thank you for what you do!

Really enjoyed you sharing your journey with us Beau. I'm going to share it with my children

Our Dad taught us to bring a bag on any trip to the creek, river, park etc... and to pack out more than we packed in. I have raised my boys woth this same philosophy.

You're a gem Beau... you've inspired me to make an effort to do the same in Liverpool, UK. I don't know how to kayak but how hard can it be?! Goodonya!

Unreal video mate thank you for sharing.

Absolute legend mate keep on kicking on

One of the things you often mention in your films is that once you pick up a piece of trash you feel a sense of ownership over it. How much of that horribly polluted section were you able to clean? Now that you’ve seen the awful sections of the river do you find yourself wanting to go back and clean more/organizing a river clean up/ contacting the people “in charge” of those type of cleanups? Love your videos, Beau! Just finished your book today. Read the last bit to my two month old son while he was a bit fussy after a nap. Did the trick!

I don't live in Australia, so I'll channel the frustration and clean up the little canal in my neighborhood here in Amsterdam. Empty suggestion: can you plot some of the worst places on a map and post it in the video description or comment? Maybe a good starting place for volunteers / city officials to get started...

Thanks for highlighting our backyard problem we all ignore as to hard to solve! Great footage.

this was a great story, filmed excellently, will watch more thank you

I have helped in Canada in a river clean up, and it was disturbing. What was cleaned out of it. Don't forget or give up on what you are doing. Because you will inspire others. Douglas 13.