Car parts and furniture litter beaches

• Published date: 05 November 2021

Council waste minimisation officer Robbie Stillwell was pleased with the turnout of people keen to help clear up their environment.

“There was a good mix of ages at both events ... the kids are really leading the way ... our [local] Waste Warriors have definitely raised the profile of cleaning up our community,” Stillwell said.

Mo Collins, team manager of Recreational Services Horowhenua, was at both events, and agrees that a lot of environmental action is driven by the younger generations.

“We had three students from a local school come down with their koro ... doing a DoC programme called Kiwi Guardians ... earning awards while learning about the environment,” Collins said.

The Foxton Beach cleanup included the sand dunes, and took about six hours with over a tonne of dumped rubbish being cleared, including TVs, mattresses and even a truck tyre.

“There was lots of broken glass and cans in the dunes,” said Collins, “reflecting fairly antisocial behaviour by some people.”

The cleanup crew also picked up a large dump of rubbish found north of the Foxton surf club on the same day, which was added to the pile already cleared from the beach further south.

The Hokio Beach cleanup on Sunday was not quite as long, only three to four hours, and covered a smaller area from the playground to the beach, but still produced over 800kg of rubbish.

“I was a little surprised by what turned up at Hokio,” said Stillwell, “there was the tray of a ute (basically half a vehicle) as well as a three-seater and a two-seater...