Well that was a big old success! Despite the rain on the morning of the Hirepool Big Clean, we had an amazing 226 people arrive to volunteer their time on one of Auckland’s most littered coastlines.
It was a reasonably dreary morning, but that couldn’t deter the hardy beach cleaners from descending on Taumanu Reserve for a 9am start, on March 9, 2019. Taumanau Reserve is a bit of a go-to for us – over the past 4 years we’ve taken out over 12 cubic metres from this area, and that’s not including the impressive haul from the Hirepool Big Clean.
We had a massive operations plan for this day, which is needed when you have over 200 people arriving in one spot. Luckily, we couldn’t have a better event partner than the good team at Hirepool, who arrived with 4 vans and trailers, dozens of tables, marquees and all the rest. It really was a good scenario.
After the initial welcomes and and the health and safety briefing, we split into 6 groups to cover all the coastline from Taumanu Reserve, down towards the port, under Mangere Bridge right to the back of Waikaraka Park. We even sent a team over to Kiwi Esplanade on the Mangere foreshore.
It was a monumental effort resulting in one of Sustainable Coastlines largest litter hauls on a single day: 9200 litres, or over 107,000 individual pieces. That equates to over 180 wheelbarrow loads removed from the coastline. Please click on the results link to the right of this page for a full breakdown of the litter audit post-event.
We want to say a massive thanks to the Hirepool team and everyone they brought on board, such as the Fishing and Adventure Show, Raymarine, the Bait Mates crew and others through their networks. Special thanks also to the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre for setting up some kids games, The Hits radio station for providing some tunes and Auckland Council for their continued support. Of course, the biggest thanks goes to all the hardy volunteers that showed up to get stuck in on a pretty rainy Saturday morning – we can’t wait to have you guys out again.
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UPDATE 27/02/19: Due to an overwhelming interest in this event, we’re sorry but registrations are now closed – we can’t take any more! Please keep an eye on our events page for more beach clean-up and tree plantings opportunities in the future.
In support of Seaweek 2019, Hirepool, Fishing & Adventure and Sustainable Coastlines are getting together for a beach clean up of the Onehunga Foreshore on the Manukau Harbour on March 9.
We’d love you to join us for a fun family morning and help with the issues caused by coastal rubbish.
Scott and Mig from Fishing and Adventure will be there on the day to take part and have some good fishing chat. Arrive at 9am on Saturday 9 March at Taumanu Reserve, Seacliff Road, Onehunga and we’ll arm you with a reusable rubbish sack and gloves to get going.
Once the clean up is done, we’ll have the Hirepool Sizzle Shack BBQ cranking with some snarlers and ice-cold Phoenix Organic drinks to fuel you up after your efforts.
