Seaweek Clean Up- Manukau Harbour 5 March 2016

Over a tonne of rubbish was collected from the Mangere Bridge foreshore and the Oruarangi Awa during our recent Seaweek clean up.  Friends of the Farm co-ordinated the Mangere Bridge clean up, joining five other events around the Manukau Harbour as part of the Sustainable Coastlines’ Love Your Coast initiative. In total, 77,000 litres of rubbish was taken away from the harbour during the Seaweek operation.

More than 80 people headed to the Mangere Bridge foreshore at the beginning of March to participate in our event, ably co-ordinated by Friends of the Farm’s Janine Nillesen.  Lots of family groups pitched in, including some from Westpac’s head office, which also provided sponsorship for the event.   Local esplanade neighbours, children, young people and older residents from our community, as well as some out of towners, all worked together, showing broad solidarity for caring for our environment.

Volunteers combed the area from the old bridge to the yacht club, collecting around 50 bags of waste.  The trusty Ambury Farm mule transported the waste to the Mangere Bridge Boat Club, which was kindly opened up as our base for the day.  “It was awesome to gather so much rubbish from our foreshore but disturbing at the same time”, says Janine.

Our focus for the clean up was on picking up single use plastic and small pieces of plastic that birds and fish can mistake for food.  Some of our young people were devastated to find a shag that had become snared on a fish hook and tangled in fishing line − a graphic example of how litter in our oceans directly affects our wildlife. 

It was fantastic to work in partnership with Sustainable Coastlines, who provided an extra gazebo, re-usable sacks and gloves, and treated us all to drinks sponsored by Phoenix- just what we needed on such a hot and sunny day!  We also benefited from having the event advertised more widely, through their networks as well as our own.

Later in the day Friends of the Farm headed to the Oruarangi Awa at Ihumatao, where we met locals from the papakainga who’d already been gathering rubbish on the low tide. Captain Hayden from SeaCleaners joined us, bringing his boat and a kayak. We proceeded up the awa, collecting the bags that’d been left along the bank. A large volume of rubbish came out of the awa and Captain Hayden plans to remove more rubbish in the future, with the assistance of Friends of the Farm and Ihumatao locals.

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out on the day − you’ve made a huge difference to our harbour and are an inspiration to our community!  And let’s all remember to be mindful of the impact our rubbish is having on the environment.