What you find on a beach

If 30 people take two hours to cover six kilometres, how much rubbish can they collect? Heaps, it would seem, if it’s a litter team combing the beach at Rarangi at the weekend.

Volunteers took away all the rubbish they picked up for a bit of analysis; topping the litter list were cans, bottles, newspapers, plastic wrappers and toilet paper.

Some of it was typical beach detritus; three cigarette lighters, six toys, 34 glass drink bottles and more than 40 cans. But there were also 15 items of clothing, a vehicle tyre and eight shotgun shells –and loads of plastic, fishing line and rope.

You can see the photographs they took:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9ihXVxabMMEUllfTG1uNTl3SDg

Council’s Solid Waste Manager Alec McNeil says it provides an interesting snapshot of a Marlborough beach.

“I’m going to use this little case study for our Marlborough Litter Project as it certainly does suggest there’s room for us to become tidier kiwis.”

With support from the Ministry for the Environment, Council’s waste management section is examining our littering habits and whether more could be done to keep Marlborough tidy. The Marlborough Litter Project will run this year and next, to try and understand the extent of the litter levels and the effectiveness of existing services.

There’s more information about it at www.marlborough.govt.nz/Services/Refuse/Marlborough-Litter-Project.aspx

ENDS.

Record. 1743250

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