Rubbish under the sea and in the air bewares
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
Six million tonnes of debris enter out world?s ocean every year. To shelve our local additions to the mess, Dive & Ski HQ in Petone are strapping on diving gear as part of the Hutt Valley ?Clean up Week?. The shop is tackling a third year of underwater clean ups at Petone Wharf as part of city-wide cleanup efforts. Hutt City Council Environmental Investigations Officer Alan Pope is asking for the public to support the divers in collecting rubbish both off the beach and from under the wharf. ?Last year we collected several shopping trolleys, chairs, fishing lines, tires, small anchors and a lot plastic and glass bottles, plastic bags and food wrappers. ?We estimated that we collected over 300kg of rubbish ? a lot of that was recyclable,? Mr Pope says. He says the first clean up three years ago uncovered fifteen shopping trolleys that were entangling fish and other sea life. ?People also use the wharf to jump off, so it?s about removing hazards for them too,? he says. There are currently 27 schools and 19 groups registered for the week of local beautification, and over 1800 rubbish bags have been distributed. The Council is having a ?Clean up Week? display and promotion at Queensgate shopping centre on Thursday 10 September and will be giving away 10 EnviroFlexiNets in a draw. ?The flexi-net is used to cover and hold recycling material in the recycling bin to prevent the recycling from being windblown,? says Mr Pope. Wellington City Councillor Environment Portfolio Leader Celia Wade-Brown says it is estimated that 10 percent of the world?s plastic waste finds its way into the sea and most of it ends up in the Pacific Ocean. Sea currents transport the waste into ocean ?dead zones?, large areas of water that are slow moving circular currents that trap debris into one large moving mass of plastic. ?If you need a bag to package up your weekly recycling, we do need to bag our loose lightweight recyclables or they will blow into stormwater grates, reserves or the sea. ?Those bags are then recycled too ? keeping our green recycling bins is what the public wanted but it is a windy city,? says Ms Wade-Brown. Flexi-nets are on sale at the Council and selected supermarkets. The cleanup crew will meet at Petone Wharf car park to organise collection areas & highlight areas to focus on. After the dive at Petone Wharf there will a sausage sizzle to support similar events organised and education programs run by Project AWARE around the Asia-Pacific region. To register for the cleanup phone Alan Pope on 570 6890. Clean up Week, Petone Wharf on Saturday 19 September at 10am. ? [SUBS NOTE: more copy if needed] Individuals, groups and schools can register with Hutt City Council to be part of the week-long tidy up, says Hutt City Council Mayor Ogden. ?We?ve made it easy for people to participate. They just need to choose an area of the city they think needs a spruce ?up and send in their registration form. ?We?ll then provide litter clean up bags and disposable gloves and will collect the filled bags when they?ve finished,? Mr Ogden says. [SUBS NOTE: possible SIDE BAR] Greater Wellington Environmental Awards Many people work tirelessly to protect and nurture their local environments. Greater Wellington is calling for entries to award and honour those who enhance our region?s environment. Applications close on 18 September, and judging for the awards will take place in October. The winners will receive an award and a prize of $500 which will be presented at a function in December.? For information and application forms see www.gw.govt.nz/environmentalawards. Email completed application forms along with any supporting photos to . The awards recognise the stellar work that individuals, community groups, schools and resource consent holders are doing in partnership with Greater Wellington to make our region greater, greener and habitable.
