McDonald's agrees to unusual request after woman's 'disgraceful' find

A resident of Sydney beachside suburb Coogee has revealed how staff at the local McDonald's answered her request to provide her with some items to help clean up the beach after it was littered with rubbish from the restaurant.

The concerned woman shared a post to a Facebook page dedicated to Coogee locals, explaining how she came across the polluted beach during her evening walk.

“Just went for an evening walk and the beach was littered with rubbish! Managed to pick up half a garbage bin of it,” she wrote in a post, alongside several images of the litter-strewn beach.

In the photos, the woman shows the remnants of beachgoers' picnics, with Macca’s paper cups and plastic straws, miscellaneous plastic bottles and paper scattered across the sand.

On finding the piles of beach debris, she decided to head into the nearby McDonald’s to ask for items to help with her clean-up.

“If anyone else is ever inspired to do the same, I went to McDonald’s and asked them for gloves and a garbage bag to pick up the trash – of which almost half was from Macca's,” she wrote.

The Good Samaritan concluded by saying the Macca’s staff were “happy” to give her free gloves and a garbage bag to clean up the mess.

Coogee locals were quick to comment, with hundreds applauding the resident for her selfless act.

“Thank you for doing this. People need to be so much more considerate and use bins and respect our beautiful environment!” wrote one resident.

"It's disgraceful that people think they can just go out in public and throw their rubbish everywhere," another said.

“You’re a champion! Hopefully this is a wakeup call to people. So selfish and can kill wildlife!” wrote a third.

Fed up Coogee residents want McDonalds to be held accountable

Meanwhile many others shared similar experiences of having to clean up after people at Coogee beach and sporting oval recently, saying it was an ongoing issue.

“I picked up a lot of McDonald’s rubbish including chicken pieces... south of the beach yesterday morning,” wrote one concerned resident.

“I also picked up a small bag of rubbish, always keeping some bags and tongs in my bag when I head down. And yes the majority of the rubbish is Macca’s.”

One person even suggested that next time the person “separate the Macca’s rubbish into a different bag from the lot, and then show a photo to the council” to make the restaurant accountable.

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McDonald’s support resident’s commitment to the environment

Yahoo News Australia reached out to McDonald’s for comment about the actions of staff who gave the woman free gloves and a garbage bag to clean up the beach.

McDonald’s confirmed the act was not formal protocol, but they support the customer’s passion and commitment to the environment.

The fast-food retailer added it is a founding partner of Clean Up Australia Day, the nation’s largest community-based environmental event which has run annually in since 1989.

This year, Clean Up Australia Day is on Sunday, March 6 and McDonalds has over 200 of its restaurants participating in local clean-ups across the country.

Members of the community can also register or join a local clean-up at the Clean Up Australia Day website.

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