Diligent workers clean up after others
Date: 10 March 2008
Despite windy weather, over 200 people participated in the Seaweek Beach Clean-up from Otaki to Paekakariki over the weekend. Overwhelmingly, the most common items of rubbish were plastic items, and beer cans and bottles.
"It's so sad just how quickly we completely filled rubbish bags with discarded bottles and cans," said Paraparaumu resident Julie Weir, who picked up rubbish near Maclean Park.
Michelle and Caleb Stace survey
rubbish collected at Paraparaumu's
Maclean Park during Seaweek
Participants found the greatest amount of rubbish near car parks and the dunes and usually within sight of a council rubbish bin. Georgina Nawroski, Paraparaumu College student and member of its Voice Student Environmental Group, handed out bags and gloves to people turning up for the event. She was concerned that people were "tossing bottles anywhere" instead of going to the effort of putting their rubbish in bins.
Local Brownies, Girl Guides, Scouts and Cubs, made special efforts to help the environment, collecting such items as carpets, council rubbish bins, tyres, car fenders, small bags of dog droppings, a gun cartridge, an old lawn mower, fishing line, a box of clothing, a farm gate, undies, and lots of shoes. A softball and Frisbee were taken home for pet dogs.
"We picked up so many shoes we could have opened an odd shoe store," observed Dayna Haylock from Paraparaumu Beach Brownies.
Barry Bayston from Keep Otaki Beautiful was impressed with the number of young people that turned for the beach clean-up.
"It's important for children to learn to respect and care for our environment at a young age," he said. "It's disappointing to see the amount of broken glass near car parks where it poses a dangerous health hazard to both humans and marine life."
People who showed up for the beach clean-up were in to win free trips to Kapiti Island. Geoff Monk from Otaki and Georgina Nawroski from Paraparaumu won two families of four passes for a day of exploration on Kapiti Island. ENDS