By Justin Atkinson, 01 April 2024
There is massive pollution of the world's waterways by plastics and other rubbish. This has many harmful impacts upon ecosystems, wildlife, and human lives and livelihoods.
Therefore, it's super important to remove waste from our waterways and keep track of pollution flows. In collaboration with Sustainable Coastlines, VUWTC monitors litter levels at Opau Bay beach near Mākara. We head there several times a year on a fun day trip to pick up trash, and count the amount and weight of the stuff we find.
Along the way, we get to hike up into the hills, get some stunning views of the area and the South Island, greet the local sheep and cows, explore the old WW2 bunkers, wear funky pink fluoro, trip over driftwood, worry about asbestos contamination, threaten each other with a mallet, discover some interesting pieces of trash, grumble about the scientific process we have to follow, share some laughs, and enjoy the company of other like-minded people who care deeply about the environment.
A massive thank you to everyone who helped out. It's much appreciated by me, the community, Sustainable Coastlines, scientists, advocates for a cleaner environment, and policymakers. It makes a real difference, by providing visibility of the pollution problem, and influencing activists and government policy. Here's to a less polluted future!
*On August's cleanup we bagged Mākara's only playground, Mākara School Play Area, rating it a really fun 9/10 and awarding it 1st place!*
Some stats:
No of Opau Bay cleanups in 2024: 2 (April Fool's and August, possibly another in Oct/Nov?)
No of citizen scientists: 13 (April), 8 (August)
Area searched: 50m x 20m (April), 100m x 20m (August)
No of items found: 265 (April), 196 (August), 461 total
Litter weight: 5.981kg (April), 6.947kg (August), 12.928kg total
Plastics percentage of total litter: 89% (April), 93% (August)
Types of litter found: plastic (soft, hard, foamed), rubber, metal, wood, fabric & textiles, glass & ceramics
Coolest items: walnuts, a syringe, a water tank, buoys with faces, a tyre, shotgun shells, half a road cone, fireworks, half drunk Fanta bottles
