From saving 7000 plastic bottles going to landfill to cleaning up millions of micro plastics from local beaches – the volunteers of Sustainable Waihī Beach have hit the ground running since launching six months ago.
Sustainable Waihī Beach is a fairly new community initiative that kicked off their sustainability efforts by opening seven water fountain and bottle refill stations on September 10, 2022.
“[We know] 865 million single use plastic bottles go to landfill in New Zealand a year – and if we look at the statistics for Waihī Beach alone it attributes to one million of that number,” says Sustainable Waihī Beach co-founder Pippa Coombes.
The water stations were installed along Waihī Beach to reduce the number of single use plastics going into landfill.
SWB ambassador, former Prime Minister, Helen Clarke opened the water stations.
“Helen was in attendance with other notable figures supporting us to become the most sustainable beachside town in New Zealand. To date we’ve saved 7000 bottles going into landfill with the usage of the water stations.”
Pippa says SWB is helping to bring people together of all walks of life.
Predator free
The next major sustainability initiative SWB is looking towards for 2023 is achieving predator-free status from Bowentown Heads through to Albacore Ave, Waihī Beach.
To join Sustainable Waihī Beach, visit: https://sustainablewaihibeach.co.nz
Credit: sunlive.co.nz
