113kg of rubbish pulled from Petone Beach

Fifty volunteers spent Sunday afternoon picking up rubbish on Petone Beach, to mark the end of Seaweek 2015.

113 kilograms of rubbish was taken off the beach by participants, including cigarette butts from the seawall, fast-food packaging, coat hangers and even underwear. The bulk of the rubbish collected was small pieces of broken plastic.

Event organiser Micheline Evans was thrilled with the dedication of the volunteers.

“Picking up rubbish on the beach can be an overwhelming and uncomfortable experience. It forces us to consider the waste we create and the impact of our actions, which isn’t an easy thing to do.”

Hutt City Council’s Environmental Sustainability Advisor, Sandy Beath-Croft, says that while the annual beach clean-up is effective, residents and visitors must play their part to reduce the amount of waste entering our beaches and streams in the first place.

“The annual beach clean-up event always sees a short-term reduction in the amount of waste on our beach; but we need to fix the root cause of the issue, which is littering. We all have a personal responsibility and a part to play”.

There are more than 35 rubbish bins along the Petone esplanade, which are emptied daily on weekdays, and twice a day during weekends, over the summer period.

Visitors to the area are urged to use the bins provided, or take their litter home.

ENDS

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