Ray White Ponsonby’s annual initiative to help clean up Cox’s Bay breaks all records

More than 150 volunteers, bolstered by dozens of children from local schools and with the help of the Hawke Sea Scouts, collect over a tonne of rubbish in just two hours.

As the sun came out on Sunday morning, so did all the helpers, and after a briefing by Ben from the Watercare Harbour Clean-Up Trust, the annual Cox’s Bay clean up was underway.

From my vantage point on the deck of the beautifully renovated Hawke Sea Scouts boathouse, volunteers fanned out along the shoreline and began picking up the litter.

Some brave souls, despite warnings from Sea Scout leader Gretchen Wade, decided to head out over the mud flats, sinking deeper into the Waitemata with every step. Once stuck, they beckoned their colleagues to come out and help extricate them (and their gumboots) from the sticky, grey mud. They, too, got stuck. Although this scene provided an amusing ten minutes entertainment, it also highlighted the potential dangers that exist just metres from the high-tide mark.

Back on dry(ish) land, the pile of debris delivered to the slipway below started building up. Ray White’s Simon Damerell had also joined me to survey the progress.

In the week leading up to the event, Simon told me that he and his team, aided by Hayden Smith from Sea Cleaners, had visited local schools to talk to students about the effect that rubbish has on our oceans and how they could help clean things up. “Kids are natural conservationists,” says, Simon. “They’ll naturally do what’s right.”

“Wood and glass and metal aren’t the main culprits, here,” he says. “Plastic is the real menace. And plastic bags are the worst. Filter feeders think they’re jellyfish, so they suck them in… and when they break down into smaller bits, birds think they’re small fish.” Pointing out to the harbour, Simon adds, “Every Gannet out there, bar none, has plastic in its guts.” That, in itself, is a very sad fact.

Ray White Ponsonby is not a newcomer to conservation, having organised the planting of trees along nearby Meola Creek and around the back of Western Springs College and the zoo.

“Our next move is to set up an environmental trust,” says, Simon. “I want to draw up a charter that’s based around planting, cleaning up and conservation in the area.”

As we peer down at the growing pile of rubbish below us, Ben from Watercare Harbour Clean-Up laments about just how much plastic is around, and the effect it has on us all.

“Plastic is used in so much packaging these days,” he says. “Every time we go to the supermarket we walk out with plastic bags. And we don’t need them.”

“The problem with plastic is that it lasts forever,” he goes on. “It will only ever breakdown to a molecular level – it doesn’t biodegrade, so it’s inside all the crabs and the creatures that live and feed in the mud, and in all the fish that feed on them. Plastic is now in our food chain, and we are effectively fouling our own nests.”

The message is simple – we need to stop using plastic. Or, at very least, take care of how we dispose or it or recycle it.

“What amazes me,” adds, Simon. “Is that India has outlawed certain plastic bags. If India can do it, why can’t we?” It’s a good point.

The two-hour clean-up is almost at an end, and I head down to where people are gathering with their bags of rubbish. The atmosphere throughout the morning had been fantastic. Everyone had come with a great attitude and a willing pair of hands – young and old.

Local resident, John Cowern, says he heard about the clean up from his brother who lives at Waihi Beach. “He’d read about it in the Herald and emailed me to get along and help out. He even called me this morning, just to make sure I didn’t forget,” he laughs. Good news travels.

As Simon sounds the horn that officially ends proceedings, people gather for muddy selfies and start the prerequisite posting. Only one task remains – the eagerly awaited spot prize giveaway. One lucky volunteer is about to walk away with a brand new paddleboard.

And the winner is…