Thousands of ‘beautiful Kiwis’ are set to do the right thing and take part in New Zealand’s largest clean up event this September.
Registrations are officially open, and with over 5,000 individuals already signed up it is expected that more than 50,000 individuals will join a community clean up as part of Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean Up Week on from September 11th to 17th.
Each year hundreds of organisations, businesses and communities do the right thing and organise a local community clean up as part of this initiative.
In 2016 more than 40,000 volunteers took part in more than 625 individual events nationwide – with clean ups happening at beaches, alongside highways, in parks, and everywhere in between.
Heather Saunderson, CEO of Keep New Zealand Beautiful, said Clean Up Week offers individuals, families, businesses, groups and community organisations the opportunity to do something for their local community.
“At Keep New Zealand Beautiful, our mission is to educate the next generation of Tidy Kiwis and work together toward creating a better New Zealand. Clean-Up Week is the opportunity to make a tangible difference in your local community and we are committed to expanding this event every year.”
This year Keep New Zealand Beautiful are trialing a fundraising platform alongside Clean Up Week. Saunderson said being a not-for-profit organisation they rely heavily on donations, sponsorship and membership income to run initiatives such as Clean Up Week so is hopeful that by introducing a fundraising component they may be able to offset some of the costs incurred.
She reiterated all materials are remaining free for registered groups, and there definitely is not an expectation that groups fundraise as part of their Clean Up Week event.
Saunderson said they encourage groups of all sizes anywhere in New Zealand to sign up, and said that Keep New Zealand Beautiful will then provide everything needed to ensure the community clean-up is a success. This includes rubbish and recycling bags, gloves, health and safety guidelines, volunteer registration forms and much more.
Clean Up Week is a well-received community pride initiative, which reaches every corner of New Zealand. Saunderson said every year they are overwhelmed with the feedback from groups and the sense of community pride that Clean Up Week instils in local communities. “We receive countless emails and phone calls from every corner of New Zealand to tell us how successful their community clean up event was”.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful has developed a range of lesson plans that primary schools are encouraged to download to help teach our tamariki respect and responsibility for their environment. These are available for free download on the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website in the resources section.
Following the lesson, classes are encouraged to take part in a clean up of their school or community. Keep New Zealand Beautiful has button badges and participation certificates available to send out to the first registered schools taking part.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean Up Week’s central aim is to increase community participation of all kinds, but also addresses issues of sustainability, environment, health, crime and social inclusion. They work in partnership with government bodies to deliver on sustainable and environmental initiatives.
