Every little bit counts
There was no shortage of little hands to clean up towns across the Western Bay and Hauraki districts over the last week.
Hundreds of locals took part in the different events organised as part of the National Clean Up Week. Every little step counted, and kindy children came into play at Waihi’s Victoria Park to collect rubbish.
Last week on Wednesday, 21 young volunteers from Kiwikidz Educare Waihi were on the prowl for rubbish, canvassing every corner of the park. Most of the waste they found was plastic, office manager Ange Oliver says.
“A lot of the rubbish was actually recyclable such as plastic wraps, yoghurt pots and more.” The team collected a full bag of recycling and a three quarter full rubbish bag during the clean up.
“Most of our centre took part in it, except for the smaller ones, and all the kids loved it,” Ange said.
Locals have taken ownership of their towns’ clean ups.
Residents across the Hauraki and Western Bay of Plenty districts registered for the Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s National Clean Up Week with events in Waihi and surrounds, Waihi Beach and Paeroa.
Most of the clean-ups took place last weekend and attracted hundreds of people.
More than 160 volunteers signed up for the Waihi’s spring clean last Sunday and the past week led by Keep Waihi Beautiful.
This was the group’s biggest clean-up yet, with the highest number of volunteers and the largest area covered, stretching to Waikino and Waitawheta.
Keep Waihi Beautiful chair Anne Marie Spicer said that more local clubs also joined, including the Girl Guides, Waihi Leos and Waihi Youth Centre.
Hauraki District Mayor John Tregidga came along to show his support, and is donating a waste-minimising worm farm to each primary school in Waihi through his Mayoral Fund.
The council and Waihi New World put on a barbecue to all participants who met at the Memorial Hall with the help of the Waihi Lions.
“It soon became clear that volunteers collectively picked up our biggest amount of rubbish yet, partly because a wider area was covered and partly because volunteers went to places that have never been cleaned before,” Anne Marie said.
She said the biggest littering problem was that people still thought it was okay to throw their rubbish out of car windows while driving through the town and the gorge.
“This is not okay and a campaign to address this issue is now definitely on Keep Waihi Beautiful’s To Do list for 2019.”
But she said the group noticed fewer cigarette butts on pavements around town.
Nearly 20 Waihi Beach locals also met up last Saturday for an annual clean up organised by the Waihi Beach Environment Society.
The Society was pleased to see the beach a lot cleaner than in the past.
“I am not sure whether this is because it appears that with so many more campervans and the like staying overnight, Council has installed more rubbish bins around the area,” one member said,who preferred not to be named.
Paeroa was also cleaned up the same day with locals invited to clean their residential streets. The initiative was organised by Positive Paeroa.
A dozen volunteers covered several streets from the Paeroa Domain, Willoughby St, Thames Rd, Taylor Ave, Te Aroha and Aorangi Roads.
Two groups were focused on the stopbank while others cleaned up around the Information Hub.
Volunteers collected mainly foodwrappers, cans and bottles, both plastic and glass, and organiser Jo Tilsley said they also found some larger rubbish.
“We also had pieces of car consoles, shock absorbers and tail lights collected,” she said. More Pick It Up events will be set up in the future.
“The people involved on the weekend were so passionate about it and are keen to do more.”