REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED –
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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/
On Friday 8 December, FINNZ staff joined our team at the Lyall Bay boat ramp for an afternoon beach clean-up. The windy balmy weather made for a beautiful and classic Wellington day.
Oliver Vetter gave a brief presentation about the issues facing our waters from single-use plastics and the simple solutions we can all contribute to help. After a health and safety brief the team set out onto the beach. Over the course of the next 2 hours the team removed over 400 litres (~50 kilos) of rubbish from the coastline between Lyall Bay and the Taputeranga Marine Reserve at Princess Bay.
The car parks between the beaches had the most ‘interesting’ finds, including fishing gear and single use plastics
As usual the FINNZ team got stuck into it – sometimes on all fours through bushes and over rocks. It’s amazing the difference a motivated group of people can achieve, and how much rubbish you can find when you take the time to look.
We all came together for a phoenix ginger beer and a discussion of interesting finds!
A fantastic effort by everyone involved and we look forward to working with such a good-spirited team again
What do you need to bring?
The Summer Fun Continues!
On Saturday 27 January 2018 we had another absolutely amazing day for the Weta Digital sponsored beach cleanup of Miramar and Evan’s Bay. The keen crew from Weta Digital, Weta Workshop, family, friends and locals all showed up at Scorching Bay right around 9:30am to give some love to this fantastic peninsula.
Once again the weather was fantastic. At registration everyone picked up their free event T-Shirt at the Sustainable Coastlines tent and we opened the day with a chat and safety brief from Sustainable Coastlines’ Wellington crew. Weta Digital have sponsored our ‘Love Your Coast’ education, training and beach cleanup programme for the past three years, allowing us to run our school events in Wellington for free.
In term 4 of 2017 we educated over 5,000 children in the effects of littering and single-use plastics on the marine environment, and took more than 2,400 of them to their local beach to enable them to take the solutions into their own hands and deepen that connection with the place they love. During those cleanups we picked up more than 11,000 litres of rubbish from Wellington’s beaches and streams – all thanks to generous sponsors like Weta Digital!
And with that our 125 volunteers were ready to go! Sustainable Coastlines’ staff member Te Kawa Robb led a convoy to the heavily impacted Evan’s Bay, while the rest of the team worked north and south of Scorching Bay and north and south around the coastlines. They had been instruction to search the high tide line and secluded bays where the floating micro-plastics are often stranded, as well as the bushes and verges along the roadside where rubbish accumulates before traveling via storm drains to the ocean.
The groups did an amazing job and picked up more than 2,300 litres of large, small and strange pieces of plastic!
After a couple of hours of heads down under the sun, everyone headed back to base for a well-deserved lunch. The crew were then treated to the calming sounds of Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant acoustic music and enjoyed the delicious food from the team at Beat Kitchen
Huge thanks to Amy and the awesome team at Weta Digital – we really couldn’t do our work without your help.
Thanks also to Meridian Energy for lending us their canopy, Nikita Ty-Bryant for her music, Craig and his team from Beat Kitchen, Wellington City Council for helping us with rubbish disposal, Phoenix Drinks for providing delicious juices and the Sustainable Coastlines’ crew – Tegan Arnold and Te Kawa Robb who kept everyone motivated and safe and took some fantastic photos of the day.
Looking forward to doing it all again next year!
Oliver – Wellington Programmes Manager
Registration for this event is now closed – please keep an eye on sustainablecoastlines.org/events for more volunteer opportunities!
On Saturday 27 January 2018, from 9:30am, Sustainable Coastlines invites you to meet at Scorching Bay for a fun, family day of beach cleanups, beach games followed by a catered lunch and music by the amazing Wellington singer songwriter Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant
Weta Digital was our principal sponsor of our 2017 ‘Love your Coast Wellington’ clean-up and education tour. At last year’s event the Weta Crew cleaned up almost 5000 items of rubbish from Evans, Worser and Scorching Bays.
We’ll send out teams to beaches around the Miramar Peninsula, and find the corners and coves where the rubbish is blown and washed up.
Spaces are limited.
REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED –
What do you need to bring?
Turns out you actually can’t beat Wellington on a good day! Early on Saturday 22 April a bright-eyed crew signed in at Scorching Bay for the Weta Digital sponsored cleanup. The crew included employees, friends and family of the Weta Digital group, as well as the general public who love the Miramar Peninsula and want to give back.
The weather could not have been more perfect! After registration at the Sustainable Coastlines event tent, which overlooked the beautiful calm Wellington Harbour, we opened the day with a presentation from Sustainable Coastlines’ Wellington crew. This helped put the beach cleanup in context of our Love Your Coast Programme: Weta Digital have sponsored this education, training and beach cleanup programme for the past two years, allowing Sustainable Coastlines to run their school events for free. In term 4 of 2016 we educated over 3,600 children in the effects of littering and single-use plastics on the marine environment, and took more than 2,400 of them to their local beach to enable them to take the solutions into their own hands and deepen that connection with the place they love.
After a quick health and safety reminder, our 100 volunteers were ready to go! Sustainable Coastlines’ staff members led a convoy to the heavily impacted Evan’s Bay, while the rest of the team worked north and south of Scorching Bay. They had instruction to search the high tide line where the floating micro-plastics are often stranded, as well as the bushes and verges along the roadside where rubbish accumulates before traveling via storm drains to the ocean.
The groups did amazingly well, picking up more than 1,500 litres of large, small and strange pieces of plastic!
After a couple of hours of heads down under the sun, everyone headed back to base for a well-deserved lunch. The crew was then treated to the calming sounds of Miles Calder’s acoustic music, and then enjoyed the delicious tacos and burritos prepared for us by the fantastic Andres – The Burrito King!
Huge thanks for to the awesome team from Amy and the Weta Digital crew – we really couldn’t do our work without your help. Thanks also to Meridian Energy for lending us their canopy, Miles Calder for the music, Andres the Burrito King for food, Wellington City Council for helping us with rubbish disposal, and the Sustainable Coastlines’ crew – Miriam Sherrat and Sara Stuart who kept everyone motivated and safe.
Looking forward to doing it all again soon!
Oliver – Wellington Programmes Manager
On Saturday 22 April 2017, from 9:30am, Sustainable Coastlines invites you to meet at Scorching Bay for a fun, family day of beach cleanups, beach games followed by a catered lunch.
Weta Digital has come on board again as the principal sponsor of our 2016 ‘Love your Coast Wellington’ clean-up and education tour. At last year’s event the Weta Crew cleaned up almost 5000 items of rubbish from Evans, Worser and Scorching Bays.
We’ll send out teams to beaches around the Miramar Peninsula, and find the corners and coves where the rubbish is blown and washed up.
Sustainable Coastlines was thrilled to host the Wellington and Palmerston North teams from Design Group Stapleton Elliott (DGSE) for a beach clean-up in Evans Bay, Wellington on Wednesday 27th July.
Meeting at the Zephyrometer (aka Wind Wand), Sustainable Coastlines Event Manager, Te Kawa Robb, delivered a presentation on who we are and what we do, discussing the impact of plastics on the marine environment and the importance of waste management and discussing solutions.
Evans Bay is a notorious inner-harbour site for plastic accumulation and after a few weeks of strong Northerlies, there was plenty of rubbish to be removed. The DGSE team worked incredibly hard and remained positive, discussing a number of changes and solutions to the issues of plastic in the ocean, despite the volume of waste. What was evident was the great team culture and focus on completing the task at hand – true problem solvers!
Meeting back at the Zephyrometer, we reviewed the rubbish that was collected, discussed our findings & insights and the many solutions that sprung up during the clean-up and shared some well deserved high-fives over a delicious Phoenix Organic drink.
A huge thank you to Design Group Stapleton Elliott for supporting Sustainable Coastlines – we are only able to achieve what we do through vital support like yours.
On April 28th, 2016 a team of 43 of the keen finance team from Lion Breweries gathered at the company’s head office on Napier Street, Auckland City for the beginning of what would be an exciting, educational and eye-opening afternoon. The team had signed up for a coastal clean-up event at Meola Reef in the Waitemata Harbour, lead by the experienced Sustainable Coastlines team.
The afternoon was kicked off with an informative educational presentation by Sustainable Coastlines General Manager Camden Howitt and international volunteer Lauren Gilbert. In this presentation, Camden addressed the causes of plastic pollution in our environment and the individual and collective solutions that are available to deal with it.
After the presentation, the team boarded a bus and set off for Meola Reef in the inner Waitemata Harbour. Meola Reef, a 28,000-year-old lava flow that originated from Mt. St. John in Remuera, was actually used as a landfill until the mid-1970’s, and now leachate can be actively seen seeping from the banks of the park.
After a health and safety briefing by Sustainable Coastlines staff, the team headed for the extended lava flow and spread far and wide. The mangrove trunks and pneumatophores surrounding the reef act like a plastic trap and much of the waste that flows over the reef at high tide is retained within this structure. This made for an exciting (yet muddy) time pushing through the lattice of mangroves to remove plastic wherever possible. The Lion team got fully involved with many enthusiasts coming out with mud up to their knees and all over their bodies.
It was an impressive haul in total with almost 2,200 individual pieces of rubbish including two car tyres, two boogie boards, numerous balls and toys and 830 pieces of food-related rubbish! Fairly concerning finding all of this right in the heart of Auckland, on an inner city reef.
One sentiment that seemed to resonate strongly within the Lion team was the surprise of how much rubbish was actually there in the first place. Rubbish on our coastlines is something that is often easily overlooked, but as soon as you slow down and look for it, it is easily found. The idea that we think about our waterways in one way (clean and green) but actually treat them very differently is a core message of Sustainable Coastlines and one that the team from Lion was happy to take in, take away and spread.
Sustainable Coastlines would like to give a huge thank you to Lion Breweries for their commitment to creating a better New Zealand through their effort out on Meola Reef.
On a gorgeous spring morning in April 2016, a crew of 20 keen Pureology fans, many of whom were hairdressers on a day off, gathered at the Milford Cruising Club for a day out on the beach to give some good back to a pace that we love – Milford Beach. After an ice breaker session where we all got to know each other over ‘bad hair day’ stories, Jodi from Sustainable Coastlines gave an informative Love Your Coast presentation touching on the wider issues of origins and effects of plastics in our environment and the impact that people like us can have on the health and wellbeing of the environment, both through individual and collective action.
Motivated by some of the horrific pictures of animals with plastic inside them, the team geared up for action. They headed to the beach, gloves on hands and sacks ready to be filled.
Milford is lucky enough to have locals who love and care for their beach and who do their best to keep the beach clean. So we were there looking out for the really small bits of plastic that escape the eyes of the dog walkers and sunbathers. Everyone was surprised with the amount we did pick up: 1,064 pieces in total including 267 cigarette butts, 180 food wrappers, 60 straws and hundreds of other pesky plastic pieces.
This event reconfirmed the need for increased understanding about the impacts that plastic products have on the marine environment and human health. It also highlighted the tangible impact that a small group of caring coast lovers can have through taking positive action. Although it was only two bags full, it was a very satisfying day for all involved. Several people mentioned that they will continue to do their own beach clean-ups – a sure sign Sustainable Coastlines has effected positive change.
On the morning of 8 April, 2016, 21 keen staff from Westpac’s Brand and Marketing Team boarded charter vessel Cool Runnings in Westhaven marina. They were accompanied by Sustainable Coastlines staff Ryley Webster and Fletcher Sunde, bound for the beautiful shores of Rangitoto Island. The mission for the day was to remove as much rubbish that had been washed up on Rangitoto as possible and to gain a deeper understanding of the grand scale of the plastic problem and the effect that individuals and groups can have on it.
The team landed on Rangitoto at about 10am and spent the next 30 minutes getting ready to tackle the problem head-on. After a short Love Your Coast presentation by Ryley touching on the wider issues of origins and effects of plastics in our environment and the impact that people like us can have on the health and wellbeing of the environment, both through individual and collective action, the team geared up for the 30 minute walk to Flax Point, a real rubbish hotspot.
Flax Point is positioned on the (western) Auckland City side of Rangitoto and bears the full brunt of plastic circulating currents – as the tide moves up the Waitemata Harbour it picks up rubbish that didn’t make it into Auckland’s waste management system, as it ebbs out past the Hauraki Gulf islands it deposits a large amount of rubbish on Rangitoto, and particularly at Flax Point.
Reusable sacks in gloved hands, the team tackled the rocky shores of Flax Point with much gusto. Immediately the team was dispersed and it was then a litter of red Westpac volunteer t-shirts crouched amongst the craggy, volcanic rock of the foreshore, heads down, spirits up.
Over the next two hours (interrupted by a splash of rain), the team picked up a total of 6,613 individual pieces of rubbish. This totalled approximately 500 litres, weighing in at 150 kilos. Of particular note in the haul were 147 toys, a boat hook, a hard hat, an intact fish trap, almost 1,000 individual pieces of food packaging and almost 1,000 pieces of broken glass. Oh and of course $25 (two individual finds of $20 and $5)! The team carted the rubbish back to the wharf where a well-deserved lunch of filled rolls and dried bananas was waiting.
Rested and recuperated, the afternoon saw more action! The team was split in two and some tackled the shores to the east of the wharf while the other half learned about the insightful process of auditing rubbish in order to gain the results listed above. Following this there was a chance for a photo with the full hoard before stashing it all on Cool Runnings for the trip back to Auckland and the rubbish’s rightful home, the landfill – where it should have been in the first place.
On the return journey it was easy to appreciate the impact the day had had on individuals within the Westpac team. Questions like, “What else can we do about it?” flowed from the staff and inspired conversation surrounded the benefits of active conservation measures. On return the boat was unpacked and rubbish disposed of: many hands made light work.
Sustainable Coastlines would like to thank Westpac’s Brands and Marketing Team for their amazing effort on the day. It truly was a monumental effort and the tenacity of the group was inspiring. Thanks also must be made to the team of Cool Runnings for helping to support the event with a discounted charter rate, Westhaven Marina for the disposal of rubbish and All Good Bananas for the nutritious snacks.
On Friday 8 April, 14 of FINNZ staff joined our experienced team at Houghton Bay for an afternoon beach clean-up. The changeable weather made for an energetic Wellington day and that energy was transferred to the team.
Oliver Vetter gave a brief presentation about the issues facing our waters from single-use plastics and the simple solutions we can all contribute to help as Te Kawa Robb handed out gloves and bags. After a health and safety brief the team set out onto the beach. Over the course of the next hour the team removed a whopping 400 litres (62.5 kilos) of rubbish from the car park both East and West along the beach, particularly focussing on the rocky outcrop between Houghton and Princess Bays.
Sometimes on all fours through bushes and over rocks, the team removed a great haul of single-use plastic products that had found its way onto the steep banks of the bays by littering from land, and floating in from the ocean. It’s amazing what a small group can do, and how much rubbish you can find when you take the time to look.
We all came together for a photo and prizegiving in Princess Bay, with Marcus getting the water bottle for finding the strangest thing — an angel figurine holding a flower!?!
A fantastic effort by everyone involved, and we look forward to working with such a good-spirited team again.
On the morning of Thursday 10 March, 20 keen Corona staff, accompanied by fans-favourite musician Laughton Kora, bordered their charter vessel in Westhaven bound for the beautiful shores of Waiheke Island. The perfect blue skies and light winds made for a pleasant trip through the inner gulf before nuzzling into the wharf at Matiatia where they were welcomed to the island by Sustainable Coastlines’ Camden Howitt and Ryley Webster.
After a short scenic van ride the troupe arrived at a specially selected clean-up location that was not for the faint hearted. This was a testament to Corona’s commitment to the cause: they had requested a clean-up area where their young, fit staff could roll up their sleeves and be of most benefit. Over the course of the next hour the team removed a whopping 1,575 litres (304kg’s) of rubbish from the mangroves and causeway near to Ostend township. Sometimes up their knees in mud, sweat beading off their foreheads, the team emerged from the mangroves with 7 tyres, 3 chairs, 150 glass bottles and a massive haul of single-use plastic products that had found its way into the estuary by way of careless litterers on land.
The amount of rubbish collected was an eye opener for many of the Corona staff and reconfirmed the need for increased understanding about the impacts that plastic products have on the marine environment and human health. It also highlighted the tangible impact that a small group of caring coast lovers can have through taking positive action.
After a well-deserved water break and photo opportunity, the team returned to Matiatia to board their charter vessel feeling very satisfied with a job well done!
A big high-five to the team from Corona for your outstanding effort and a thank you also to the Waiheke Island Transfer Station for sponsoring the disposal of all rubbish collected.
