Coastal Clean Up

Welcome to the Auckland region’s Coastal Clean Up webpage. Here you can:

Get involved in a Coastal Clean Up event!

 

Marine debris

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle to help combat marine debris

Marine debris is a worldwide problem.  Every year about 7 billion tonnes of rubbish makes it way into the sea.  Marine debris is a big problem in Auckland's harbours too where over two million litres of rubbish has been collected by the Waitemata Clean up Trust since it began it's clean up operations in 2002.

Worldwide nearly 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic from bottles and other packaging. Most will not break down easily.  In some parts of the ocean plastic outweighs plankton 6:1.

An estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic litter alone are floating on every square mile of ocean, 70 percent of which will eventually sink. It will stay in the environment for hundreds of years, if not forever.
 
Eighty percent of marine debris comes from land via our stormwater system, rivers and streams and is then transported out to sea.  Marine debris causes harm to underwater ecosystems and wildlife in many ways.
 
By carrying out a coastal  cleanup on foot, diving, by boat or kayak you can stop litter travelling out to sea as well as making the beach a nicer place for everyone to safely enjoy.  
 

Western Underwater Research

  • Click here to see a poster about the types of marine debris from the  Western Underwater Research Team. Printed copies of this poster can be ordered from Mike Percy

Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and help combat marine debris! 

Organising a beach clean up

Use the following helpful information to organise a beach or coastal cleanup large or small.  

Where and when to do your cleanup

Get family and friends together to do a beach clean up!

Organiser Guidelines

Remember to call Auckland Council if you think you will get more litter then you can take away. Ask about the collection of rubbish bags.

Just you and a few mates?

  • To carry out a small-scale beach cleanup with your family, friends or neighbours, click here for a one page guide including an equipment list and health and safety tips. 

Organising a school or community event

  • To organise a community or school cleanup, visit the Sir Peter Blake Trust website  for school and community group ‘how-to’ guides  and teacher resources.
  • Your cleanup will be even more worthwhile if you can record what you find because the information can be used to learn more about the extent of the problem . The Sir Peter Blake Clean Up Kit  and other resources are available from their website and can help you to sort, catalogue and report what you collect on your cleanup.
  • You can use the Ecoevents website to promote your event. Register here to list your event or email us for assistance. 

Underwater cleanups

Resources and rubbish disposal

Try a Kayak Clean Up!

  • If you need resources such as bags, gloves and rubbish disposal, contact the council call centre for assistance.
  • For support with kayak based cleanups, or for collecting rubbish from remote beaches with no road access, contact the Waitemata Cleanup Trust.  The Trust’s boat can take up to three volunteers at a time. Please contact Hayden Smith on mobile 021 180 8243 or email hayden@ihug.co.nz for more information

Beach Discovery Challenge resource

As well as doing a beach clean-up, while you are at the beach make a seires of careful observations about the condition of the environment and test your knowledge of Gulf issues by completing a short quiz. Click here for the Beach Discovery Challenge. Based on your own observations, and the answers form the quiz questions, rate the state of your beach out of 10 and tell us what you think of the state of our Hauraki Gulf beaches.

Who's helping?

Many groups and people are helping to clean up our coasts.  A few you might like to connect with are......

Sir Peter Blake Trust.  Contribute to the conservation of New Zealand’s coastal environment by using our proactive teaching resource and taking action with a ‘Coastal Clean Up’

Sustainable Coastlines.  We set out to sustain and protect our coastlines: this is at the core of everything we do. We love our coasts and we work with our sleeves rolled up to keep them beautiful.  

Love Your Coast.  Sparked by young kiwis, Love your Coast is not another organisation, rather an ongoing project that helps people across the country look after the coastlines we all love.            

PROS.  We are a non-profit organisation committed to protecting our precious beaches, waterways and marine creatures here in NZ also educating kids about the importance of looking after our waterways.

Project Johah.  Marine mammals face many threats. Everything from commercial whaling to forced captivity, ship strike and pollution.  The choices we make in life have a huge impact on the world around us. 

Videos

  • Ocean 300 & Waitemata Harbour Clean Up Trust - Two remarkable men, in a New Zealand city of one million people, are working to change plastic pollution.
  • Shag Force Episode 1 Waste Warriors - This great animated video by the Waitemata Harbour Clean Up Trust shows how marine debris travels via the stormwater system, and how it impacts marine animals, with the message ‘put your litter in the bin’.
  • What is Marine Debris? - This video shows impact of marine debris and ghost nets on marine mammals, NOAA’s approach, and ends with a reduce reuse recycle message.
  • Stop Marine Debris - This very simple clip also shows how marine debris travels via the stormwater system with an anti littering message
  • Marine Debris An Ocean Story - Without words, this clip shows positive actions that can be taken to cleanup marine debris