Although Aotearoa is isolated, currents increasingly bring to our shores some of the eight million tonnes of plastic that ends up in the sea annually, choking sea life along the way and threatening life on the beach and sand dunes.

The latest findings by The Great Ocean Cleanup on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) reveals 75% to 86% of plastic debris in the GPGP originates from fishing activities at sea.

Whāingaroa Environment Centre often works in collaboration with other organisations like Coastcare Waikato, Raglan Sport Fishing Club, Karioi Project and Xtreme Zero Waste to organise beach cleans targeting specific beaches throughout the year.
Keep an eye on our events page for upcoming beach cleans.
During our beach cleans we record every piece of rubbish we find along the way. This collection of data is useful for policy makers.
If you are a business, school, organisation or group and you would like to organise a beach clean with us please get in touch!
Of course you don't need to join an organised event to contribute to cleaning up our shorelines, you can do it anytime!

In May 2022, as part of Māui Dolphin Day (in lieu of Māui Dolphin Day), we lead a beach clean across the harbour at Te Ākau. The weather was stunning and the views were spectacular. We were very fortunate to be ferried across the harbour and back by the generous Ken Barry from Raglan Sports Fishing club followed up by a BBQ with sausages supplied by Top Cut Butchery Raglan at the Community Garden where tamariki received a medal for their contribution to the beach clean. Thank you to all the volunteers for their enthusiastic participation and excellent data collection skills while juggling trash bags. Thank you to our Māui Dolphin Week sponsor Raglan Community Board. Thank you Coastcare - Waikato for your continued support and participation. Because of all of you we kept 23kg of trash out of our ocean and marine life! Ngā mihi nui