What an awesome weekend we had cleaning the coastlines of the Waitematā Harbour! 274 people descended upon over 20 beaches totalling 36km of coastline!
Huge thank you for the mahi of all who attended as we were able to make a massive positive impact on our coastlines!
Have a read below of the finer details of each station.
Shoal Bay Station
Total participants: 61
Litres of rubbish removed: 600L
Kg of rubbish removed: 200kg
No. of beaches cleaned along the estuary: 6 beaches (13.4km)
Top offenders: Clothes, bottles and unidentifiable fragment.
Shoal Bay is one of the north shores best secrets, with awesome coastal variation and seasonal migrating birdlife. Banded rails, Godwits and Dotterels all call this area home. Philip Moll the Shoal Bay Lead from Forest and Bird helped educate the Sustainable Coastlines crew to ensure no hot-spots/breeding zones were interrupted. The coastline from Northborogh Reserve all the way arround to St Leonards was cleared of all litter.
30+ colleagues and families of Dutton Stormwater pumped up the numbers at Shoal Bay. Dutton is a recent bronze sponsor of SC, and they displayed their HUGE stormwater truck next to the station to show the efforts they put in to cleaning our drains and pipes of the same plastic that washes up on our beaches.
It was a busy day on the shore as soon as the clean-up was done, volunteers flocked to North Head to watch the final races of the Americas Cup. It may have been the smallest station on the day, but the vibe and efforts were next to none.
Te Atatu Peninsula Station
Total participants: 88
Litres of rubbish removed: 840L
Kg of rubbish removed: 80kg
No. of beaches cleaned along the estuary: 5 beaches (8.5km coastline)
Top offenders: Glass beer bottles and cans, food packaging, fishing equipment.
When volunteers arrived on Saturday they were greeted to a huge pile of rubbish thanks to River Care Group. The awesome group had already done a river clean-up down Henderson Creek earlier in the week and showcased the problem of plastic pollution from what it’s like in the mangroves.
After a H&S briefing and a spirited Love Your Coast Presentation from Dan, the volunteers headed out all over the peninsula from Harbourview-Orangihina Park and the Whau River, round to the Te Atatu Walkway, and finishing at Jack Colvin Park.
A Litter Intelligence survey was done by SC Ambassador Andrew, he is looking to conduct the audit shortly so keep an eye out for results here.
There was an awesome sense of accomplishment as all the litter was put into a pile. Ben and Jerrys spoiled the crew with Chocolate and Pineapple ice cream post event, which ended the day on the best note.
Tāmaki Estuary Station
Total participants: 127
Litres of rubbish removed: 1200L
Kg of rubbish removed: 320 kg
No. of beaches cleaned along the estuary: 9 beaches (14.5km)
Top offenders: Corona bottles, Woodstock beer cans, plastic bottles
It was a stunning day, and filled everyone with positive energy, ready to get stuck in. We had the privilege of having the Tāmaki Estuary Protection Society along for the day to hear about their kaupapa for the Estuary! “It was fantastic to see so many youth engaged in cleaning up the Tāmaki Estuary shoreline and to connect with young environmental leaders who told me they are up for doing more with the Tāmaki Estuary Protection Society”. – Beth Evans, Chairperson, Tāmaki Estuary Protection Society. Find out more about the organisation here.
Participants assigned a beach starting from Half Moon Bay and ending at Karaka Bay. The volunteers’ dedication meant we could collect 24 bags of rubbish from the estuary shores, which is incredible! Amongst the rubbish we collected were some interesting items… We found a metal chair, a traffic cone, a pram, an old Auckland Council sign… creating a snapshot of how consumer behaviours in the local area affect our coastline!
Thank you to everyone for putting in a huge effort. We can’t wait to see you at the next one!
