Kawerau residents are encouraged to grab their gloves and get involved in the town’s annual community clean-up this weekend.

Keep Kawerau Beautiful will hold its second annual Clean-Up Day on Sunday as part of Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s nationwide Clean Up Week, The event will again be supported by Essity Kawerau, with the Rotary Club of Kawerau also joining the effort.

Keep Kawerau Beautiful committee member Jonette Mead said the organisation had been around for more than 30 years but was revitalised about 18 months ago with a renewed focus on litter.

“We gathered a few people around us and got it really cracking again, focusing on litter pick-ups and throwing the message about ‘don't drop it in the first place’.”

More than 60 people took part in last year’s community clean-up, which contributed to a total haul of 834 kilograms of rubbish.

Rotary Club of Kawerau and the Tidy Taupō team collected 720kg of waste, while local volunteers collected another 114kg from around Kawerau’s streets.

Mead said the amount found was surprising.

“Yes, our town looks clean, but when you start looking under bushes and in the long grass, there it all is, the food packaging and bottles and cans that people drop instead of putting in the bin. We even found industrial and building industry waste, and old lawn mowers.”

She said some of the most common items found during clean-ups were can tabs, bottle tops, plastic straws, cigarette butts, chip packets, pie wrappers, lollipop sticks, cans and bottles.

Such smaller items could easily make their way into stormwater drains and eventually into waterways.

Mead said the group deliberately tried to make its clean-ups positive and enjoyable, particularly for children and families.

“We are angry about litter, but we don't want to be angry with people. We just try to be joyful about it.”

She said the benefits went beyond the rubbish removed from the streets with the clean-ups good for connecting and educating people.

“It's about education, meeting people, having fun, and cleaning our town.”

Chair Councillor Berice Julian said reducing litter could begin with food choices.

“Litter can be the result of poor choices around food packaging, and you see plastic containers, cans, plastic straws and the like left on the ground.

“If people thought more about their food choices and the packaging, then we would see a lot less litter, and a lot less waste falling into stormwater drains or cluttering up landfill areas.”

This year’s public clean-up will be based at the Maurie Kjar Aquatic Centre car park, with registration between 11am and 11.30am.

Volunteers will receive a health and safety briefing before heading out from 11.30am to designated areas around Kawerau. Gloves and bags will be provided.

All rubbish collected will be returned to the car park for photos, before being taken to the Kawerau Transfer Station for weighing and disposal.

Volunteers are asked to return by 2.30pm for the group photo with the collected rubbish.

A sausage sizzle, supported by Essity Kawerau, will run from 12.30pm to 2.30pm, while spot prizes will be drawn from 1.30pm.

Spot prizes will include $10 grocery vouchers sponsored by New World Kawerau, along with toilet paper and Rolly the Dog toys from Essity.

Rolly the Dog is also expected to make an appearance.

Essity manufacturing strategy manager David Milne said the company was proud to again support the event.

“Essity Kawerau applies some of the most stringent environmental and social accountability targets at its manufacturing site – including elimination of waste and circularity in our products and packaging.

“We are proud to be involved with Keep Kawerau Beautiful Clean Up day as it aligns closely with our values of caring for our community and the whenua. Clean Up Day is a chance for us all to muck in and show our pride in Kawerau – and have some fun while we are doing so.”

A separate forestry clean-up will also take place on the day, involving a smaller group of experienced volunteers working around the bush tracks off Waterhouse Road.

Mead said access to the forestry area required permission and participants were selected because work could involve chainsaws and other tools.