Hirepool and charity Sustainable Coastlines have teamed up with local councils, community groups and businesses to bring the Hirepool Big Clean event to the Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay coastline on Sunday, May 19 2024. Organisers are encouraging volunteers to register for the event now on Sustainable Coastlines’ website.

On the day, Hirepool and Sustainable Coastlines will be working alongside Sustainable Hawke’s Bay, Hawke's Bay Regional and District Councils, Napier Port, Save the Dotterels and Ātea-a-Rangi Educational Trust to support their efforts to protect the local environment.

The free event promises to be a fun, family-friendly day out that enables locals to look after the beaches they love. Last year’s Big Clean saw 230 volunteers remove 5,300 litres of litter from the Petone coastline, alongside a sausage sizzle, giveaways, and beach games.

Sustainable Coastlines’ Dan Downing says that event goers can expect the good vibes to continue for the Big Clean Hawke’s Bay. “Having a good time and doing something with purpose is an awesome way to bring people together. It’s also a great opportunity to learn something new. We encourage volunteers to think about what they find on the beach, how it got there, and to consider the positive impact they could have by making different choices in their daily lives.”

For event sponsors Hirepool, supporting beach clean-ups comes down to protecting the places people care about. Marketing manager Shaun Owen, says, “We’re absolutely passionate about our waterways at Hirepool. Many of our customers are into their fishing and recreational water sports in a big way, so we love supporting this event to play our part in rehabilitating our shores and leaving them in a better state for years to come.”

Protecting the local coastlines is also the motivation for Napier Port’s involvement, with the firm’s environmental and sustainability manager, Hannah Strauss, stating, “Napier Port is proud to be part of Hawke's Bay's first 'Big Clean’ event. As well as participating in this event, we continue to work closely with our local community, mana whenua, expert scientists and our customers to monitor and look after the health of our precious marine environment in Te Matau a Māui (Hawke's Bay).”

During the event, volunteers will be given the opportunity to participate in a litter survey as part of Sustainable Coastlines’ Litter Intelligence programme. Litter data collected from the beach feeds into a nationwide database, which has already been used by communities, businesses, local councils, and government to inform action and policy around packaging and waste.

“As well as cleaning up the coastline, we’re looking to the long-term impact we can make through inspiring people and informing better decision making,” continues Downing.

“Our goal is to put ourselves out of a job. We don’t want to do beach clean-ups forever, so we’re looking at how we can influence change to stop litter getting into our environments in the first place.”

The Hirepool Big Clean Hawke’s Bay event will kick off at 9am at Waitangi Regional Park, before dispersing volunteers along the coastline from Awatoto to Haumoana. Organisers are encouraging those interested to spread the word and to register early at sustainablecoastlines.org/events

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