Launch of the Sustainable Coastlines Education Station

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:48:49 +1300

Meet the new edition to our team, the Sustainable Coastlines Education Station: a large steel box that is coming to talk trash at a town near you. With the generous support of Container Sales and Leasing, we have created a portable education station in an epic black shipping container.
We’re looking for support to move it around the country to work with school students, PD workers and community groups. If you want to support our educational work and have your organisation promoted on this unique platform just email sam@sustainablecoastlines.org
Watch out for the Sustainable Coastlines Education Station over the coming months at our events and at educational workshops on the waterfront (more about these in weeks to come) – she will certainly be hard to miss. It also be available for inclusion at events as a portable, ready made stage with an educational message, so if you want us to pay you a visit, just contact us.

Volunteers wanted for Auckland Seafood Festival

Fri, 2 Dec 2011 15:43:32 +1300

We are very pleased to announce that in early 2012, Sustainable Coastlines is becoming a beneficiary of the Auckland Seafood Festival. This exciting event has been running for five years in the Viaduct Basin area and has raised thousands of dollars for charities associated with the Rotary Club of Auckland East and Sanford.
The 2012 Auckland Seafood Festival will signal a major upmarket shift with regard to both the quality of the event and the offering. We need your assistance to help staff this major activity and, in doing so, help raise funds for Sustainable Coastlines.
The festival is set to run on Saturday the 28th, Sunday the 29th and Monday the 30th of January 2012 -- based right by the water in Auckland CBD’s recently revamped Wynyard Quarter.
The roles that we are looking for volunteers to fill will be coordinated by the Rotary Club of Auckland East. These roles include: Retail selling, entrance/gate control, food ordering & serving, beverage stands, cooking, entertainment sales, cash handling and stock movement.
What we require
We’re looking for up to 40 volunteers who can assist in these roles for either one, two or all three days of the Auckland Seafood Festival. Volunteers should be at least 18 years of age (liquor on site) and be prepared to work in one of the functions listed above. You may have a preferred role and we would try to accommodate this request, but no guarantees that we can. Training will be on site although there will be a briefing before Saturday the 28th of January.
Want to help?
If you are able to assist the Rotary team and therefore Sustainable Coastlines, as one of the major beneficiaries, then please contact Staffing Coordinator Cheryl Willetts from the Rotary Club of Auckland East by emailing cheryl.willetts@xtra.co.nz
Please provide your name, email address, phone number, confirm you are over 18, and indicate the number of days you are available if required.

Sustainable Coastlines and the Fly My Pretties Tour

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:07:52 +1300

The Sustainable Coastlines crew was lucky enough to be invited along to the Auckland and Wellington venues for the 2011 Fly My Pretties Tour: an epic stage from which to raise awareness of the work we are doing for our coastlines.
The Auckland shows were spread across three nights at the extraordinarily beautiful Mercury Theatre, an intimate setting for the visual and musical harmony that unfolded.
A big thanks to Taupo Native Plant Nursery up north and Leacroft Nurseries in Wellington, who lent us 30 beautiful native seedlings to decorate our display. This assortment sparked some excellent conversations, ultimately raising critical funds for trees to be planted by school students alongside Waikato’s Waihou River.
This is a long-term restoration project involving schools, corporate groups and volunteers. Planting native seedlings along the waterway improves water quality downstream, providing another fantastic activity where communities can get their hands dirty and feel good about cleaning up the water that enters our seas. The seedlings reduce effluent and fertilizer runoff into the river, stabilise its banks (reducing erosion) and provide key habitats for native species.
The crowd erupted as the Pretties cast took the stage, featuring several new members including Fran Kora, Aaron Tokona and Amiria Grenell, great additions that gave a new flavour to the already terrific group. Regulars like Barnaby Weir, Age Pryor and L.A. Mitchell showcased their usual remarkable ability, setting the bar for a top-notch performance.
The first part of the show was the “new” section including some outstanding new tracks, which impressed the crowd and created an electric atmosphere in the theatre. Eloquent visual projections of images created by the ingenious artist Flox (Hayley King) made the show an aural and visual feast combined.
Part Two of the show was full of the faithful Fly My Pretties favourites and really got the crowd on their feet. The show was fantastic in its entirety and certainly one of the greatest Pretties performances we have had the pleasure to see. An epic display of New Zealand musical brilliance that makes us proud to be kiwis.
A big thanks to Loop and Fly My Pretties for the support. We love your music and are looking forward to seeing you again at the Tuborg Summer Sunday Festival and Coastal Clean-up at the end of January.

Mission to Motiti: working with iwi to clean-up Rena’s oil

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:20:58 +1300

At 2.20am on Wednesday the 5th of October, the Liberian flagged MV Rena smashed into the Astrolabe Reef at full steam on its approach to the Port of Tauranga.
With over 350 tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil and 88 containers already making their way into the Bay of Plenty, the Rena disaster has quickly become New Zealand’s biggest ever coastal clean-up.
This is the first major oil spill in our country and passionate Kiwis who love their coast soon made it clear to authorities that they were going to be a part of the clean-up whether they liked it or not. An Incident Command Centre was set-up in an old supermarket building, with experts from all over the world called-in, and our team charged with assisting with deployment of volunteers.
Globally this is the first time that volunteers have been utilised in the shoreline response for an oil spill. With over 7,400 registered and well over 50 clean-up events run so far, hard-working kiwis have proven their worth in front of an international audience.
Throughout the process the local Iwi have proven to be a real inspiration: their efforts have been a fantastic example of a motivated and cohesive community effort to restore the coastline that is so important for their heritage and culture.
Motiti Island sits only seven kilometres from the stricken Rena. Residents there have been faced with an enormous clean-up task as tonnes of rubbish from containers, all soaked in oil, has coated their precious island.
It came as no surprise to us, to learn that residents have been working every day since the Rena first hit. When locals Adam Desmond and Jay Reeve approached us wanting to help out at Motiti Island using their contacts and transportation, Iwi were very thankful for the support.
We worked together with local businesses and our passionate volunteer network to raise over $3,500 in only 3 days, and put together a 28-strong heavy operations crew that went out and relieved the thankful locals for a day.
The immediate support that the project received from many donors showed how quickly communities pull together to help those in need during a time of crisis. Special mention goes to Pure Advantage, Paez New Zealand, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Bay City Cinemas, Craigs Investment Partners and the Brownrigg Family for their generous support.
We awoke Saturday morning to gentle sets rolling in on Papamoa Beach with a typically colourful East Coast sunrise as a backdrop. This was a welcome relief given the high winds of the previous evening which had cast some doubt on our ability to fly out at first light to Motiti, located 21 kilometres north east of Tauranga.
When we landed, the resident Motiti Island whanau were waiting to greet us and the Rena lurked nearby on the horizon in clear view. We were welcomed onto the marae with a moving pōwhiri and warm hospitality in preparation for the long day ahead.
After a karakia, island representatives led us to selected areas where the huge effort already put in by the residents became clear: there were massive piles of waste that had already been collected by a small team who had been working around the clock which we helped transport to areas for removal from the island. The daunting task ahead also hit home as we saw significant amounts of newly washed-up debris.
The work put in by our crew of volunteers was incredible: we finished ahead of time and managed to clean-up another beach on the island before returning to the marae for a huge feed (always a sign of appreciation) and goodbyes.
Massive thanks to everyone involved in turning this project into reality. It was a special day and locals were so thankful for our support that they have invited us back again.
Watch this space to get involved with another mission to Motiti, to help the area most in need get through this disaster. With the ship still stranded and the real potential for more oil and debris to litter our beaches, the challenge has just begun.