Pop-Up Clean Up Sep 2016

Responding to the huge volume of rubbish deposited along a stretch of the Kiwi Esplanade foreshore after a king tide last month, Friends of the Farm decided to organise an impromptu ‘pop-up’ clean up.  We put out the call for volunteers through local social media and our email tree, and three days later 15 wonderful people showed up ready to lend a hand.

The rubbish mainly consisted of thousands of small pieces of broken plastic and waste that had probably been collected by rainwater flowing through our local streets and flushed out to sea.  It was disturbing to see what a terrible impact we humans are collectively having on the environment and wildlife in and around our harbour.

Our group of dedicated volunteers spread out along the water’s edge near the boat club and picked through the debris to collect up as much of the plastic bits as possible. We worked for an hour and a half, before the rain came down again. In total, we collected five large bags, or over 40 kg of rubbish.  At the end of the clean up, we contacted Auckland Council to raise our concerns about the volume of rubbish still lining the foreshore, and the need for Council contractors to clear this away.

Thanks so much to the wonderful Mangere Bridge residents who gave their time to care for “our patch”, and also to the many other concerned locals who picked up rubbish at other times, and who also contacted the Council. It’s great to see our community collectively caring for our beautiful harbour and foreshore. Also good to know that our efforts are supported by Auckland Council.