11 Jun 2009
Clean up day looms
Re-Fest season is gaining momentum in Kaikoura with a huge coastal clean up planned for the build up to this years Eco-Art exhibition.
The clean up will take place over two days, kicking off on Friday, June 19, when 230 youngsters from local primary schools will be picking up and sorting litter from around the coast.
The Sir Peter Blake Trust, Westpac Kaikoura and Kaikoura District Council have joined forces to organise the event. Local schools have been learning all about caring for the coast during their environmental studies.
The Sir Peter Blake Trust last year published a Care for our Coast clean up kit for schools outlining the problems associated with aquatic debris and what can be done to alleviate it. Information from the coastal clean up will be sent to the Trust for collating so each school or area can compare its self with the nationwide data.
The children will be encouraged to wear red socks for the day, joining participants up and down the country. Through Westpac sponsorship they will be kitted out with bibs, gloves and red socks, provided with a free sausage sizzle and set on their way.
Each child will fill in and sort their own bag before it is taken to Innovative Waste Kaikoura. The clean up operation will continue on Saturday for the general public and high school students, from 9.30amto 12.30pm, starting at Memorial Hall.
People are asked to bring sturdy, enclosed shoes, a pair of gloves and some supermarket bags (recycled from home). Morning tea will be provided. All participants will be asked to sort all the rubbish they collect.
The council's biodiversity officer Jodi Denton said she hoped to see a good system in place from collection to sorting and recycling or disposal, as people would be encouraged to think about the entire process.
"The idea is two-fold. You pick it up but you also think about what you can do with it. And with Eco-Art just around the corner, it is a good time to be thinking about what to do with the rubbish."
Kaikoura Star - 10 June 2009
