Sustainable Coastlines

I had heard a lot of chat about a group of legendary kiwis who had formed a charity with the sole intention of cleaning up the coastlines of the Pacific. Did NZ finally have its own Peter Garret? High profile Kiwi Ben Kelly informed me about the leader of this group…

“I must say I have been taken back by the venom at which he is attacking this Captain Planet type venture… Most Wellingtonians talk a massive game but not many have followed through like the great man Sam Judd.”

Intrigued, and with great excitement, I met with these champions (Co-Founder Sam Judd and Marketing Manager Camden Howitt) in Auckland, NZ, to find out more. Check out their website, donate some money and give these guys some support as they are the money…

www.sustainablecoastlines.com

SBW. What inspired you to start Sustainable Coastlines Juddy?
SJ. Spending eight days as a volunteer on an old fishing boat El Señor de los Reyes, cleaning the coast in the Galápagos Islands and finding endemic animals choked to death in plastic rubbish. Finding an intact package, addressed from USA to Costa Rica out there amongst a whole heap of other waste on an uninhabited coastline really opened my eyes to the problems of rubbish traveling in the ocean.

SBW. Why did you get involved with Sustainable Coastlines Cam?
CH. I talked with Juddy when he got back into the country and it was an easy sell. We work with good people and do great things in beautiful places. And party afterwards. Quite an alluring concept, I thought. So I got involved.

SBW. I recycle, I don’t litter and I don’t use plastic bags. Am I doing enough for the environment?
SJ. You are doing well.  You can go further by spreading this idea as far as possible.  At Sustainable Coastlines, we do this by making large-scale events that help the environment and are fun – if you are enjoying it then you are doing something for yourself and the environment at the same time no?  A big part of what we do for the environment is motivating people to get up off their arses, do something good and then celebrate the effort together afterwards.

SBW. What about things like showering less?
CH. Absolutely, saving water and power are good things. There are heaps of other things we can do to clean up our act (so to speak): say no to plastic bags at the supermarket, put your rubbish (including cigarette butts, yes, they are rubbish) in the bin and not in the gutter, and pick up trash when you see it lying around. This would make our job easier too – what makes it to the streets makes it to the sea, and washes up on our coastlines.
SJ. We are working on educating people in New Zealand cities, that rubbish left on the streets runs into storm drains and out to sea, where it damages our ecosystem savagely.  It’s a major challenge when you are looking at behavioral change, but the enthusiasm people have and results so far give us more energy to keep going.

Beautiful beaches and the environment are being damaged by rubbish

SBW. What have been the biggest challenges so far?
SJ. Cutting up and removing about 3 tonnnes of wrecked boat in the Galápagos during our first coastal cleanup event. We had to deal with Government officials from Ecuador – at the time, the most corrupt nation in the world on the transparency list.  We coordinated people from a number of different institutions that hate each other to work together for one common goal and it worked- 300 people picked up 7.5 tonnes of rubbish in one morning. Our biggest challenge right now is a huge event in the Ha’apai Islands of Tonga. The goal is to construct a formula to provide a waste management solution for small island states through removal by container and community education.

SBW. Describe the most rewarding moments…
SJ. School children singing in fluent Maori to say thank you, after the trip out to Aotea would be up there.  Enjoying pumping waves to ourselves on clean coastlines amongst the animals in the Galapagos Islands after the event was awesome- the coast gives so many recreation and livelihoods, it felt good to have given something back.  Probably the best though, is when people tell us that we have inspired them into doing something good.  This is immensely rewarding as we hear back about people taking pride in spearheading their own initiatives- in this way we can make a significant difference on a large scale.
CH. I remember talking with a couple of kids about their discarded plastic bag on a ferry trip. I picked up the bag and moved it around pretending it was a jellyfish, then asked them if they thought that would look like food to a turtle. They laughed, but they got the point, and put it in the bin. We also are looking at things on a corporate level too – we’ve talked with companies whose product packaging we’ve found strewn across beaches thousands of miles away, and asked for their help in addressing the problem. Positive talk = positive walk.

SBW. Why should people support Sustainable Coastlines?
CH. Because we’re getting some solid results. The events we’ve run so far have removed tons of trash and recyclables from beaches and (we’ve been told) have motivated at least a few people to keep up the good work. The work we’re doing is fun, and it’s extremely self-gratifying. And we’re always looking for a little more support. Whether it’s donations, volunteers for our events, or just a little email love, it all helps.

SBW. How can people register their support?
SJ. Go to our website - www.sustainablecoastlines.com, come to one of our events – there is a big one in planning for after Rhythm and Vines on the East Coast, the now annual Aotea/Great Barrier Island event in late summer and more elsewhere down the track. If you can’t make it, you can make a donation (even if it’s small) and tell us about your ideas for an event in your area that you can make.  Think about senseless packaging, pick up rubbish from the beach and spread the word!

SBW. Finish the sentence: Master Mouse Patrol…
SJ. Master Mouse Patrol makes it look easy
CH. Master Mouse Patrol certainly has a way with words

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Do you need convinced as to why you should get involved? I asked one of the volunteers who is flying to Tonga for the clean up why he was getting involved, he sums it up perfectly… David Haslam-McHaffie – “I signed up cause I need some sun and its important to support your mates on their endeavours. Plus it will be “epic” (S. Judd).”