Join Us in Making a Difference
Help Protect Our Rivers and Oceans
Jo is passionate about nature and our environment. She does regular ‘trash walks’ in an effort to help keep rubbish out of our waterways. The clean up collective is on a mission to clean up our community and safeguard our waterways from pollution. Together, we can create a healthier environment for future generations. Join us – choose an area in your own local rohe/area and pick up a little trash. We can’t get it all, but every bit makes a difference and helps our awa’s and oceans to be clean and healthy, not just for us, but for the whole of the ecosystem. Water is life!
Our Mission and Vision
Clean Up Collective Aotearoa is dedicated to preserving the natural beauty and health of our rivers and oceans. We believe in the power of community action to combat pollution and promote sustainable practices. Our vision is a world where waterways are free from waste, and communities are empowered to protect their local environments.
Founded with a passion for environmental kaitiakitanga/guardianship/stewardship, our collective engages in regular clean-up walks in our own local rohe/area’s. We aim to inspire and equip individuals to take action in their own neighborhoods, fostering a culture of responsibility and care for our planet.
What do you need to do a local clean-up?
Every day walk or when you're walking your kuri/dog.
When you go for a walk, take an extra bag with you, every piece of rubbish picked up is a piece that doesn’t end up in our waterways. We don’t have to do it all, every bit counts.
Trash Walk
Intentional trash picking up. You need, gloves, a pick up stick (super cheap from WHS/Bunnings etc), a bigger bag (preferably reusable). Scales if you are interested in knowing how much waste you are saving from entering our waterways.
Community Clean Up
Organise your mates to go and do a bigger clean, maybe at the beach or an area you know where a lot of trash gets dumped.
Thoughts on Cleaning up
“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in our hands to make a difference.” – Nelson Mandala
We believe in leading by example – when we are out doing our trash walks, wherever there are kids, they are always the ones to say ‘Good job guys’ – if our tamariki and rangatahi see us cleaning up they are more likely to speak up if they see someone in their own whānau throwing out litter or leaving their takeout containers on the beach/riverside/carparks.
People can and do make a difference, every action we take has an effect, if we pick up just one can, one bottle, we are having a postive effect on our environment. We can’t eat plastic! But in a way we are – We’ve all heard about microplastics, all of the plastic that runs to the sea off our roads walkways, streams and rivers ends up eventually as microplastics which are ingested by birds, fish and all of the creatures in the waterways and oceans. We eat the fish we are eating plastic, not to mention the fact that those microplastics are now not just in the water, but in the very air we breathe, in our soils, in our clothes, in our drinking water.
Governments are not stepping up and stopping the use and overuse of plastics and harmful food preparation practices that are leaching chemicals into the very foods we eat and destroying our natural habitats/
So it is up to us – do what you can, where you are, with what you have in this moment.
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis
Getting Trashy - We can make a difference
Delaney Park Stokes Valley Trash Walk
22 October 2024

Taitā Drive Trash Walk - 400m
27 October 2024

Te Awakairangi Stokes Valley Trash Walk
15 October 2024

Taitā Rock Trash Walk
14 October 2024

Te Awakairangi Stokes Valley Trash Walk
27 September 2024

Te Awakairangi Stokes Valley Trash Walk
11 September 2024

Te Awakairangi Taita Opposite Fraser Park
26 September 2024

Upper Hutt river carpark and walk
18 September 2024

All Roads Lead to the Sea
“In less than 50 years, we have polluted all corners of our planet with over 9 billion tonnes of this indestructible product (plastic) – and the effects are catastrophic.” – Stormwater Sheperds

“It’s not enough to pick up trash on the beach. “We have to go to the source of the problem to stop it, and the source is on land,” says Martin Wagner from NTNU – Plastic in Rivers and lakes a growing concern.

Join Our Mission to Protect Our Waterways
