River clean up nets 725 bags of rubbish

More than 750 volunteers lined the city’s waterways on Saturday morning for the annual Mother of All Clean Ups event – dragging in an amazing 725 bags of rubbish.

The clean up, held each year on the eve of Mother’s Day, focuses on 156 kilometres of estuary edge and the Avon and Heathcote rivers.

Organiser Tanya Jenkins said they were thrilled with the outcome of the clean-up.

“It’s fantastic to see everyone working together to clean up our waterways, it is only by working together that we can look after the places we love.

“We are hoping that we collect less each year as the aim of the event it to raise awareness of the issue and for individuals to take responsibility for careful disposal of rubbish.”

This year 750 volunteers, including 48 community groups, collected 725 bags of rubbish. The team also collected 250 large loose items including televisions, mattresses, couches and tyres.

The haul is almost half of what was collected last year, when 20 tonnes of rubbish was pulled from the riverbanks.

The event was supported by the Christchurch City Council and City Care, which provided staff and trucks to remove the rubbish.