What a load of garbage…..
Posted by Leeb - 25/11/08 at 09:11:07 pmI really didn’t want to go today. …but as part of my MKP committment I made to do some community giveaway-type work - I arrived at Island Bay beach for a cleanup, tired after a 10hr day. [All pat Lee on the back now and say ah]. 
This isn’t about me and what I want -but-
What was really cool and felt great was receiving the smile from Andrew the organiser of the cleanup. Andrew isn’t part of MKP and he had no inclination we were about to arrive! Somehow through the ether - myself [and poor long suffering Marie-Claire]and a few other guys had tracked down this meet and now gatecrashed the party.
Island bay cleanup Nov
The beach looked pretty clean to me at first glance [probably the "oh well, all done! lets get out of here" cop-out head speak going on at this point]….anyway we got our [biodegradable] trash bags and away we went. I think each sack weighed about 15kgs when we had finished….for the land lubbers it was mostly plastic and glass bottles- followed with plastic bags, broken fishing gear and lolly-sticks. All great things to get stuck in a childs feet or in the mouths or beaks of sealife…not too pleasant - not too mention the eyesore it creates. Amazing how much stuff can hide away in the sand and rocks.
We collected and talked - a right old philosophy debate…from transport to politics. And I had an idea or two regarding what Glenn said to me regarding ‘its like paddling against the current’ [as we talked about litter and recycling].
1) “Other people will take care of it”. From as early as I can remember, I cannot think of an instance where I was taught about being responsible for my actions in the World. I can remember breaking rules and being punished - but not being taught exactly. This was my crux - is this true for everyone growing up? Maybe a fantastic initiative for teaching this is to incorporate beach/countryside cleanups for EVERY schoolchild in NZ - supervised of course, just an hour every month. If the kids cleanup their own trash off the beaches, from an early age then maybe they will have regard for the environment and self-police each others behaviour ongoing throughout their lives.
2) How fantastic would it be to provide and opportunity for beneficiaries to a) earn more than the base dole, b) get some exercise, c) contribute positively to society, which would also be awesome for their self-esteem.
How about $1.00 for every full back of crap off the beach or fill 10 bags get and extra $20/week? Council wouldn’t have to cleanup and you could even be paid more for sorting into plastics, glass, tin etc without needing a sort/transfer station - the place would look brilliant for tourists and locals alike, and we would have armies of “litter-police”….
“I’d buy that for a dollar”.
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