This December, a group of Kiwi charities are coming together to co-ordinate a series of ambitious coastal clean ups around Aotearoa/New Zealand. Every new tide brings rubbish from the city. For example, in 2 hours, 10 volunteers picked up 78 parking ticket receipts which are made of plastic.”

Sustainable Coastlines co-Founder and LYC North Island Events Director Sam Judd, states “We are aware that there are hundreds of small groups, and thousands of individuals across the country, who care for their local beaches. We also know these people want to make a difference, but sometimes despair at the magnitude of the task in front of them. Critical mass is important. The idea behind Love your Coast is that a simple activity, such as picking up rubbish from the coast, when done on a large scale, will foster ongoing coastline protection in our communities.” Individuals, schools, companies and community organizations will be participating in these events and will be encouraged to continue to take ownership of their local beaches on a long-term basis.

Resources such as the Love your Coast event planning website and audit results will be freely shared, and everyone’s involvement will be congratulated and promoted. Says Judd, “It is an important and serious issue, but we don’t want to make this another grim cause; we want to show that taking care of the coast can be fun. It is about celebrating something we love, rather than getting down about problems.” Co-founder Louis Brown stated, “Attempting to launch such an ambitious, inclusive and far reaching movement is a big challenge for a small group of young people, but we feel we are in a good position to make it work. Between Sustainable Coastlines and us alone, we have co-ordinated more than 9,000 people to remove over 80 tons of waste from our coast during the last few years.”

Keep NZ Beautiful with their annual Clean Up New Zealand Week and The Sir Peter Blake Trust with their “Care for our Coast” programme have been the major players in this space too, so a group effort is the logical next step. The Sir Peter Blake Trust programme manager, Hannah Prior, states, “New Zealand has a diverse marine environment and a coastline that’s valued and enjoyed by millions. However, Sir Peter Blake recognised that this marine environment was deteriorating and decided to do something about it. Today, the Sir Peter Blake Trust is committed to connecting New Zealanders with their local marine environment and the issues facing it, and to encouraging and inspiring them to take action.”

All the rubbish collected will be audited by PD workers through a partnership that has been organised with the Department of Corrections, and the results will provide information that will help students develop an understanding of the challenges of coastline protection. Participating schools will have access to free educational resources from the Sir Peter Blake Trust, as well as a range of other documentation and equipment available through the website for use in this and future clean-up events.

The event schedule is as follows:

Auckland -Monday 6th December - A large-scale coastal cleanup of Rangitoto Island with free ferry transfer made possible by Fullers Ferries and Auckland City Council. E-mail auckland@loveyourcoast.org to register your interest.

Wellington - Tuesday 7th December - A large-scale coastal cleanup of the harbor and the South Coast. Email wellington@loveyourcoast.org to register your interest.

Christchurch - Wednesday 8th December - A large-scale coastal cleanup of the Heathcote and Avon Rivers, the Estuary, and New Brighton. Email christchurch@loveyourcoast.org to register your interest.

Find more information here.