On the sunny afternoon of Wednesday 17th April, 20 staff and family from RDT Pacific met Jodi and Amy from the Sustainable Coastlines team at Eric Armshore Reserve. Spirits were high as everyone was eager to get their toes stuck into this popular strip of coastline, nestled between Auckland’s Western motorway and Point Chevalier.

Following on from an informative ‘Love Your Coast’ presentation to highlight the importance of clean-ups, a plan of attack and a safety brief were delivered. Gloves, sacks, and sunblock were distributed, before the team set off on different paths; across rocks, around corners, through the grasses, under cliffs, and down to the sand. A lot of ground was covered by this diligent team.

After an hour or so, everyone steadily returned to home base with their findings – some sacks had an abundance of micro plastics, lollipop sticks, and small glass shards, while others were bursting at the seams with – a car bumper, road works collateral, bottles, cans, and clothing. The satisfaction of seeing everybody’s efforts accumulate together was both jaw-dropping and rewarding. All together 7 full sacks were collected – roughly 350 litres!

By early evening the tide was full, the sun lowered and not a breath of wind was to be seen. A delicious BBQ was enjoyed by all, as the team wound down for the day. Thanks very much to RDT for their continuous support, and good on you for leaving this small yet much-loved piece of coastline rubbish free.