Love Your Coast Browns Bay with Arena Living | Sustainable Coastlines

Event impacts

Event Details

Sat
04
May 2019

What to bring:

  • Closed-toe sturdy shoes, such as sneakers, sports shoes or tramping boots are required for participation. Gumboots are not allowed. Coastal terrain can be challenging with rocks that can be sharp, loose and slippery.
  • Warm and waterproof clothes: NZ weather is unpredictable. Bring at least one warm top layer and a rain jacket.
  • Sun hat, sun cream and other sunsmart gear.
  • Sunglasses. NZ sun is harsh and wind can blow sand and dust around. Protect those eyes from the sun and sand by bringing your own glasses
  • Reusable water bottle (filled-up and ready to go).
  • Snacks.
  • Camera (optional). Use #loveyourcoast on social media or email to [email protected]

 

What do Sustainable Coastlines provide:

  • Reusable rubbish sacks and gloves
  • Drinking and hand washing water
  • Sunblock, hand sanitiser and soap
  • Health and Safety briefing and documents
  • First aid kits and first aid trained staff
  • A fun, healthy and safe environment
  • Refreshments post-event

 

More information:

For more information on the day or to find out if we can cater to your group’s requirements, please email Fletcher on [email protected]

The weather was on our side on our second attempt at holding the Browns Bay Clean-up with our new friends Arena Living, New Zealand’s favourite manager of lifestyle and retirement villages. The day was centred on Browns Bay on Auckland’s North Shore…. and what a day it was!

115 locals, including residents from both the local Knightsbridge and Mayfair Villages, a large and enthusiastic contingent from Greenbank House from Kings College and many first-timers, as the well-seasoned, gathered on the banks for a 10am start – with an eerie mist still lingering over the water in the bay nearby.

Our Sustainable Coastlines’ Ambassadors, Anne, Carla, William and Charlie registered our participants and manned the tea and coffee – for some, a necessary start to any clean-up!  After some brief messages from Sustainable Coastlines, Arena Living and MERC (Marine Education and Recreation Centre) who were manning the activities station, we briefed the crowd for health and safety and what to look for.  We then split the group into teams: a road crew, an upper estuary crew, a lower estuary crew and rest either manning the tea and coffee station (thanks Mary!) or hitting the beach.

Around 12 pm, people started returning with their sacks – proudly showing their spoils.  Shawn Elise, our new Programmes Coordinator took the opportunity to then run a quick Love your Coast education presentation while others returned – some more grubby than others!

We collected an impressive total of 1500L of rubbish, mainly from the surrounding streets, parks, and in and along the banks of the Taiaotea Stream, flowing directly onto the south-end of the beach.  Though there were micro-plastics found in patches and little bits on the high tide-line on the beach itself, the fact we didn’t find much larger bits of rubbish clearly shows that the Browns Bay locals and visitors are passionate about their beach and keeping it so clean! It’s up to all of us to educate others that everything that ends up in our streets and gutters will eventually flow into our beloved shores.

Special thanks to Phoenix drinks, who supplied us all with a refreshing drink after our good mahi, the village residents for supplying some highly appreciated baking and the local Penguino Ice Cream Cafe who unexpectedly offered all clean-up participants a free ice cream!

But final words must go to Arena Living – we really appreciate this new partnership and for their generous support of Sustainable Coastlines. Without them, and backers like them, we wouldn’t be able to hold these public events like we do.  With their help, we can get on with what we love – connecting people with the local beaches and waterways that they love and to help inspire other to look after them too.

Thanks for the mahi, and the support, and see you at our next event.  Stay tuned for our riparian planting season!

If you are interested in finding out more about our nationwide Litter Data collection programme, simply fill out the following Expressions of Interest form at this link on our website:

https://sustainablecoastlines.org/event/citizen-science-workshops/