Volunteers fight junk on beaches
Rubbish sure to be seen during stroll on sand
Messages in bottles, a brass artillery shell, dentures, and loads of asbestos — almost anything imaginable has been plucked from our beaches.
But by far the most common and most concerning item found is single-use plastic products, which are found 75 per cent of the time.
Long gone are the days of walking a beach without spotting rubbish, but some people are fighting to make a difference.
Sustainable Coastlines cofounder Camden Howitt said plastic of an unknown origin was the worst offender, followed by food wrappers and bits of glass. He said the plastic was so broken down in the ocean or on beaches they became unrecognisable.
In the past year, Sustainable Coastlines picked up 102,545 litres of rubbish from our shores, equivalent to three fullsize shipping containers. A band of 10,255 volunteers helped the organisation for a total of 17,083 combined hours.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful (KNZB) is another organisation whose members are getting their hands dirty in the name of defending our marine environment.
KNZB doesn’t record statistics about rubbish collection from beaches but spokeswoman Kath Doubleday said Clean Up Week was a success.
Between September 10-16 last year, an estimated 102,466 hours were volunteered.
“This is based on our final volunteer number of 51,223, giving on average two hours of their time as part of Clean Up Week,” Doubleday said.
“Cigarette butts are always a problem and were again this year. Aside from this, takeaway packaging is often found.”
Howitt said any Kiwi could help to prevent rubbish building up on our shores.
“Help your friends and wha¯ nau make better decisions with what they buy, and what they throw away,” he said.
“Pick up rubbish when you see it, even if it’s not yours. Say no to plastic straws. Buy food in bulk, or make and grow your own food at home to reduce packaging.
“Reduce your use of singleuse plastics. Bring your own takeaway containers, coffee cups, and shopping bags.”
Last year, the Government announced a ban on single-use plastic bags would be in force by the middle of this year.
Countdown declared itself free of single-use plastic bags last October — the first supermarket in New Zealand to do so.
Meanwhile, Foodstuffs made the call to ban single-use plastic bags from the start of this year for all retail and wholesale brands including Pak’nSave and New World.
However, something positive still needs to be done about the rubbish which has to be collected from our beaches.
Sustainable Coastlines attempts to recycle or reuse as much of the rubbish it finds as possible after separating items into different categories.
“We separate it into categories and count and weigh each category to collect important data on the litter problem,” Howitt said.
“We keep some items to turn into artworks, recycle what we can, and the remainder goes to landfill.”
Meanwhile, KNZB takes the rubbish it collects to Waste Management or Envirowaste where, again, as much as possible is recycled.
The next beach cleanup Sustainable Coastlines hosts will be on Friday, January 18, from the Wellington Museum Waterfront.
KNZB said its next cleanup was yet to be confirmed but it was likely to be in February.