Mid-winter coastal clean-up

A massive coastal clean-up in Gisborne in late August helped to remove over 7,800 litres (well over a tonne) of rubbish.

The charity Sustainable Coastlines delivered an educational roadshow (similar to one they undertake in schools) to 45 offenders and staff at the Gisborne CPS Service Centre one Saturday morning. Then, following the presentation, a health and safety overview was provided and personal protective equipment was handed out with a caution to beware of dangerous items. (This was fortunate, as aside from glass and other very sharp objects, animal organs, heads of deer and other animal parts were found…)

Then, the actual clean-up of approximately one-and-a-half kilometres of coastline, from the Waipaoa River and towards the Gisborne township began – taking approximately two-and-a-half hours.

It’s a very well-used part of the coastline of huge historical interest with much surfing, surf-casting and plenty of ornate grasses surrounding the area.

The presentation motivated the offenders enough to remove huge amounts of rubbish from the area near the river. “I had no idea that plastic was poisoning our kaimoana and whanau, bro,” said one offender as he filled up sacks of rubbish. “I’m not going to drop it ever again for sure.” Other offenders were keen to participate in a clean-up closer to the coast where they lived.

Senior Community Work Supervisor Bill Taiapa says the offenders were very enthusiastic about the work. “Following the speech made by the Sustainable Coastlines representative, the guys actually stood up and clapped – it was absolutely exceptional to see!”

Sustainable Coastlines’ formula clearly works. They have shared their educational roadshow with over 2,700 students in the region; they then take hundreds out to clean up the coast; first explaining why it is important not to let plastic enter the marine environment.

Following the clean-up, everyone returned to the Service Centre to begin the audit. All the rubbish was separated into plastics, tin, glass, household items, collated, and then weighed.

The extensive auditing exercise counted 8,571 individual pieces of rubbish removed. This included 2,121 pieces of food packaging and 1,097 plastic bottles, showing a mixture of rubbish that had washed up from the sea, down from the river following recent heavy rains and also significant volumes being dumped on the beach.

“It was a good learning curve, especially for the younger offenders who hadn’t realised how rubbish impacted on food gathering at the beach,” said Bill Taiapa.

“The idea of Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) has resonated deeply in people while cleaning up this beautiful coastline,” says Sam Judd, Co-founder of Sustainable Coastlines. “This formula provides a huge opportunity for offenders, school students and others to learn about coastal protection, share the knowledge with their peers and give something back to the community with solid, quantifiable results that they can be proud of.”