The challenge in 2025 and beyond, through clean-up events hosted by the community, is to progress aspirations of local Iwi to restore the mauri lost along Palmerston North’s waterways. See the Te Kawau Stream Project: Te Arohatia Te Kawau and the findings of a collaborative study: the Plastic Pollution Challenge undertaken in 2019: between Palmerston North City Council, Zero Waste Aotearoa, Rangitāne, and Environment Network Manawatū. The situation is tragic: human-made litter, in particular plastic pollution, is a key contributor to the degradation and sickness of our waterways.

It is only through our collective action that we will ever beat the plastic pollution plague.

A wide range of students, community members, companies, council staff, academics and local Iwi have been involved to date.

He waka eke noa. We are all in this together.

HOW TO HOST A WATERWAY CLEAN-UP EVENT

Let’s get you started...

How often you would like to host an event is up to you. It could be a one-off, once a year, or your group might like to adopt a section and keep it clean on a regular basis. Why isn’t this currently being undertaken by local government? Priorities and funding. The waterways are relying on all of us to keep them clean.

Map of Waterway Clean-Up Sections in Palmerston North

We have divided Palmy’s main urban waterways into virtual sections, able to be cleaned by a group of 10-20 people during a 2-3 hour event. The “Guide for Event Organisers” will guide you through the important steps to planning and holding a clean-up event, including how to select a suitable section of waterway for the ages and abilities of your participants.

Once you have followed Steps 1-4 in the Guide, fill in the form below to register your event. Then continue on with Steps 5-14.