What a
stunning day and a fabulous turn-out it was for the 2018 Manukau Harbour clean-up
in Mangere Bridge! Friends of the Farm
joined forces with Sustainable Coastlines again this year, hosting 81 people at
our event and covering the entire foreshore, from the old bridge to Ambury
Farm.
Volunteers young
and old came from as far as Botany Downs, Howick and Titirangi, joining our
faithful group of locals for the clean up. The Papatoetoe Scout club turned up en-masse to lend a
hand, and several families visiting the foreshore for the morning, decided to
pitch in as well. Baking and cold drinks
were supplied by two lovely locals who couldn’t stay for the clean up, but
wanted to support our efforts.
At first
glance, the foreshore seemed pretty clean, but once people started looking
closely, millions of tiny pieces of plastic and polystyrene became visible. As with all our clean ups, most of the rubbish
collected came from single-use packaging, such as plastic bottles, straws and
cans, as well as some larger items of household and construction waste. One
first-timer to our clean ups said he was shocked and saddened at how much
rubbish was there.
The day
finished with cold drinks and fruit supplied by the Sustainable Coastlines
crew, who were very encouraging of our continued efforts in caring for the
foreshore. A huge thanks to them for
their support, and to our volunteers Darren and Jade, who stayed all day and
helped us with the set up and pack down. And of course, to the 81 people who gave up their Saturday morning to care for our moana!
If you’d
like to see the return of the containers for cash scheme, where bottles and
cans are returned to the manufacturer for money, please make a submission on
Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation and Management Plan before 28 March. Friends of the Farm
believes a scheme like this would drastically reduce the amount of waste in our
waterways and on our foreshore.
