My Account
Organiser of The Big CleanUp on Orewa Beach, Brittany Owens, says she was really happy with the turnout of between 55–65 people who combed the beach for rubbish on November 4. Together, they gathered around 200kg of material in just one hour.
She says people of all ages, including many families with young children, took part in the clean up. “It was awesome seeing children learning about the huge impact we have on the environment and small actions and habits they can adopt to reduce their own waste,” Brittany says.
She says while the Orewa Beach shoreline was in pretty good shape, a fair bit of rubbish was found in the retaining rocks between the grass area and beach.
The most common item found was cigarette butt filters. “These are made of synthetic plastics, meaning that they are not biodegradeable, and extremely harmful to our marine and bird life,” she says.
A sausage sizzle followed the clean up. “We all got a chance to chit chat, catch up with familiar faces, and fill our bellies with sausages donated by Design Insurance in association with North Harbour Rotary Club. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and walked away feeling good about what they had done. The Big CleanUp wouldn’t be ‘big’ without its helpers.”
Brittany says she would like to dedicate this cleanup to the generous donor, an Orewa local who wishes to remain anonymous, who gave her $500 towards her cleanup work after reading about her initiative in the last issue of Hibiscus Matters.
The next cleanup will be on December 2, at a location yet to be decided. Follow The Big CleanUp Facebook page for more information and details.
