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Less rubbish, more people in creek for its clean-up
Monday, September 24, 2012 • Marino Harker-Smith
TWICE the people and half the rubbish was collected in the second major clean-up of Waikanae Stream.

The clean-up resulted in 1.38 tonnes of rubbish removed from the waterway and banks of the stream by a group of 70 volunteers on Saturday morning.

This was half the amount collected in last year’s clean-up, when 30 participants collected three tonnes of mainly plastic rubbish from around the stream in two hours.

One of the clean-up organisers, Jason Akuhata-Brown of Te Ora Hou Trust, said less rubbish was a good sign, especially considering they covered a larger area this year and had twice the volunteers.

About 70 people mucked in on Saturday morning to clean up rubbish, clear weeds from the bank and plant trees donated by the Women’s Native Tree Project.

Clean-up participants were meeting today to discuss going forward, with one option a Waikanae Stream “adopt-a-spot” project.

“What we are likely to do is to have a network of people who can become guardians of the creek and have something ongoing, rather than a one-off effort as it has been in the past couple of years,” said Mr Akuhata-Brown.

There were already a couple of groups looking after sections of the river, such as Awapuni and Gisborne Girls’ High schools, and Gisborne business M. E. Jukes and Sons.

One volunteer on Saturday, Linda Paulson, was surprised and disappointed at the amount of rubbish found in a small area.

“I wish people would respect their community. There are avenues out there where people can dispose of their rubbish more appropriately but maybe it needs to be communicated better,” said Mrs Paulson.

Mr Akuhata-Brown said a mixture of rubbish was collected, with one volunteer even coming across a deer antler.

“It’s laziness and people picnicking down on the grass not bothering to carry their waste to a rubbish bin.

“We would like to see people as kaitiaki of this area again. What was once a great food source for iwi and probably early settlers has turned into a place to dump rubbish,” he said.

The Waikanae Stream clean-up was supported by Keep Gisborne Beautiful and Gisborne District Council, and was part of Clean Up New Zealand Week which concluded on Saturday.
MUCKING IN: Volunteers cleaning up the Waikanae Stream bank from left, Katrina Hughes, Kay Barlow and Kauri Forno. Pictures by Paul Rickard
KEEPING GISBORNE BEAUTIFUL: Painting out graffiti on the Grey Street bridge are from left, Felix and Jasmine Sparks, Casey Akuhata-Brown, Petra and Lily Sparks. Pictures by Paul Rickard
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