Navy picks up over 50,000 litres of rubbish
Car parts, refrigerators, ovens, ‘‘anything you can think of, it’s here’’, Hayden Smith says.
Smith, founder of volunteer marine restoration group Sea Cleaners, was helping pick up rubbish in Otara’s Upper Tamaki Strait on Sunday.
The group teamed up with the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) who provided 115 junior officers and sailors for some extra muscle power.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was also lending a helping hand.
It’s the second year the RNZN has taken part in the initiative which is part of its humanitarian aid training.
The operation collected around 50,000 litres of rubbish. Local schools will continue to take on a guardianship role of the waterways.
Smith, who recently won Kiwibank’s New Zealand Local Hero Award, says cleaning up estuaries and coastlines is about creating harbours for the future.
‘‘Our goal since 2002 has been to clean up Auckland’s waterways, but also provide a public information and education programme that will hopefully prevent future generations from littering and dumping rubbish,’’ he says.
Sea Cleaners co-founder Ben Harris says the dumping of car tyres and shopping trolleys is becoming more of a problem. A recent clean-up in the Pahurehure Inlet collected more than 1000 tyres, he says.
RNZN Warrant Officer Kramer Pierce says being part of the project really resonates with Navy personnel.
’’We were involved with Sea Cleaners last year ... and while it was hard work it was also incredibly rewarding for our officers and sailors.’’