Love your Coast Rangitoto Island 2011

Thank you

A huge thank you to every one of our 1,200 fabulous volunteers for your massive effort on the beautiful and unique coastlines of this iconic island. Together we removed over two and a half tonnes of trash from the shores of Rangitoto Island! Also a massive thank you to all of our Team Leaders, helpers and of course our generous sponsors. Without you all, we could not have achieved what we did. Check out the event photos above and a detailed breakdown of our results through the link on the right.

Enter our Photo Comp

We are looking for photos from the day and would love to see yours. Send your best pics to us at [email protected] or — if you’ve got high-res shots that are a battle to email — upload them straight to our swish dropbox system by clicking here.

Some very fancy prizes are up for grabs from Sony, PhotoCPL, Arnette and Sitka, so show off your photographic prowess and send us your pics! Check out photos from previous winners here. Make sure you get them in before entries close at 5pm on Friday 16 December. We’ll be announcing winners the following week.

The legal stuff: By submitting photos into the Love your Coast Rangitoto Island Photo Comp you are agreeing to grant Sustainable Coastlines Incorporated, any media and partner organisations a license to use, distribute publish or exhibit these photos in any manner either now known or subsequently devised and without any restrictions, in perpetuity. If you request, your photo will be duly credited whenever used in this way.

Final event information

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, ferries to Rangitoto Island are free for all event participants. We do, however, ask that you bring a gold coin donation on the day to help us cover other event costs.

Volunteers will need to arrive at Shed 10, Queen’s Wharf, Auckland CBD (see on Google Map) at 7.45am on Tuesday 6 December. There, you will sign-in and get ready to board the ferries to Rangitoto Island. Ferries will return from Rangitoto Island to this point at around 4.15pm, so be ready for a solid day out on the island.

Important notes and what to bring

This clean-up is a great adventure for all, but it is important that all event participants are well prepared to make the most of the day ahead of them.

Volunteers must be physically fit and willing to spend several hours walking on the challenging, rocky terrain, sometimes while carrying sacks of rubbish. Ensure you have read and accepted our Health and Safety Disclosure Acknowledgement before you confirm participation.
Wear sturdy shoes: Rangitoto Island has some very challenging coastal terrain with rocks that can be sharp, loose and slippery. You’ll need closed-toe, sturdy shoes (such as tramping boots, sneakers or sports shoes). Sorry, but we cant let participants in jandals onto event ferries, for safety reasons.
Pack warm and waterproof clothes: Weather can be unpredictable at this time of year. Bring at least one warm top (ideally old woolen) and a rain jacket in a backpack you can carry with you.
Carry sunscreen and a hat: There is very little shelter on the island.
Bring plenty of food and water: There are no shops on Rangitoto Island and very limited access to drinking water. Clean-up can be physically challenging, so come prepared!
Bring your camera: Enter your shots in our photo competition.
We provide all clean-up equipment, including rubbish sacks, gloves and other safety gear.

Want to be a Team Leader?

Thank you to everyone who has so far expressed interest in being a Team Leader on event day. If you haven’t yet confirmed your space and want to be a Team Leader, simply tick ‘Yes’ on the appropriate question on the registration form, read through the below information, and we will be in touch to confirm your role.

Team Leaders will be asked to:

Arrive early (7.00am) at Shed 10, Auckland CBD, to collect equipment and be briefed by Event Directors.
Lead a team of 25 — 50 volunteers during clean-up on Rangitoto Island.
Deliver our safety briefing to your team (Download here and familiarise yourself with this information. Printed sheets will be provided on the day).
Wear a fancy hi-vis safety vest (we will provide this).
Be your team’s contact point in case of emergency.
Be the person for Sustainable Coastlines to contact in case of emergency (you must have your own mobile phone with credit. If an emergency occurs, we will refund any costs incurred).
Carry essential Health & Safety equipment (we will provide spare gloves, spare rubbish sacks and a small First Aid Kit — please provide your own backpack).
Conduct headcount prior to, and following clean-up.

Team Leaders will get:

Exceptionally good karma for being involved in a great thing for our coastlines, on a massive scale.
A written reference from Sustainable Coastlines (on request).
The chance to win some very sweet prizes.

If this sounds like you, we would love your help! If not, no worries. We would still love and appreciate your help as a volunteer at the event.

Rangitoto Island Clean-up to be repeated

Rangitoto Island is a unique and beautiful location: a young volcanic island with sweeping views of Auckland city, the North Shore and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

Last December, over 1,200 school students and volunteers joined us for a massive community coastal clean-up on the island. The event was a huge success; together we removed over 201,000 pieces of rubbish from these uninhabited shores and generated significant media attention – raising large-scale awareness locally about the global challenges of marine debris. See the short film we made about the event here.

Due to the success last year, we are repeating the clean-up event this summer. On Tuesday 6th December we are taking over 1,000 students and volunteers back to Rangitoto Island for a large-scale coastal clean-up and we are looking for adult volunteers to help us out, particularly those with current First Aid qualifications.

Please complete the form here to express interest in joining this clean-up event. Note that ferry space for the event is limited, so completing the form does not confirm attendance and simply gives us an idea of numbers for planning purposes. We will contact you closer to the event with further information and to confirm your space.

If you have any questions in the meantime please contact one of our team on 09 948 8454 or email Event Director Sam Judd on [email protected]