On Friday 28 January a break-away group from Fridays for Future signed up to the Great Big Waterfront Clean-up (organised by Museum of Wellington and Sustainable Coastlines).
Inorganic rubbish that is not disposed of properly (into a rubbish bag that is taken to the dump) often ends up in our seas, rivers, streams etc, and then either inside bird/fish stomachs or around their necks.
Armed with garden gloves, plus-size rubbish sacks and specially made “Fridays for Future” flaglets, we followed the instruction to go forth and pick up litter.
Earlier groups of rubbish retrievers had already gone ahead and filled their sacks with the big stuff. We got the low-lying junk clinging to bushes and hiding under piles of leaves – bits of polystyrene, cigarette butts galore, bottle caps, chocolate bar wrappers, clingfilm, unidentified bits of hard plastic, and a cute anxiety ring (that I will take home to clean and wear). All that squatting was quite the inner-thigh workout!
In the meantime, our presence on the Parliament Lawn continued as usual…
I will leave you with a photo from the previous Friday, when an impressive family group visiting Wellington for the day joined us to show their support. It is always great to talk to – and pose with – anyone dropping by.