the annual "Mother of all Cleanups" litter clean up 2025
On Mothers' day weekend hundreds of caring residents give Mother Nature their gift by cleaning up her waterways from carelessly discarded rubbish.
We do this on the day before Mothers Day on Saturday, 10th of May this year when community groups and schools are invited to spend just 2 hours between 10 and noon to collect litter from their allocated stretch of a waterway.
From 5 groups in the inaugural event in 2015 the event has grown to in 2024, 64 community groups, businesses and schools groups collecting 2.4 tonnes of rubbish. This was then properly disposed of by City Care Ltd staff. There were as many as 376 bags of rubbish and 101large items (which did not fit in bags) collected. Sadly in addition to the litter 342 dog poo piles on the water edges were counted as well. Shame that some dog owners do not realize how disgusting this is to people trying to enjoy a walk along our waterways and how this adds to water pollution in waterways. Apart from litter being unsightly, many small littered items are mistaken for food and ingested by fish, birds, and once having floated into our oceans by whales, turtles and dolphins.
The 'PickUp5' campaign supports this event by encouraging everyone to just pick up 5 littered items whenever you go outside for a walk of just check your gutter!
The aim of the event is to encourage other cities to do the same and make this an annual and nationwide event.. Dunedin being the first city outside Christchurch to have joined on 2024.
Between 10am and 12 noon and no need to register, just turn up!
Public is asked to join at one of these two sites;
1 - New Brighton Beach > Meet in front of the new Brighton Library at 0945 to collect gloves, a rubbish bag and receive instructions before we look for discarded rubbish along the beach. suitable for all ages.
2 - Naval Point in Lyttelton > Meet at Naval point at 10am to collect gloves, rubbish bags and receive instructions before 'combing' this area for discarded rubbish. Suitable all ages.
Along the entire Avon and Heathcote Rivers, Lyttelton Harbour Basin, Beach, Estuary edge, Parks and school grounds
More Info
Community groups have ‘adopted’ allocated stretches of our estuary and rivers to clean up.
General public can help by attending the clean up at New Brighton beach OR Naval Point in Lyttelton OR just check for litter in front of your home and check the gutters. Pick it up before it enters the storm water system and from there into our waterways.
Think; “High Five, pick up Five”.
If we all picked up 5 items every time we go for a walk there would not be ANY litter!!!
