Keep Waitakere Beautiful

The Keep Waitakere Beautiful (KWB) programme was established by Waitakere City Council in 1993 as a Council-Community partnership. The Keep Waitakere Beautiful Trust was established in August 2002 to continue the KWB Programme as an independent charitable trust, now working outside of the Council, with the Ecomatters Environmental Trust.

The Keep Waitakere Beautiful (KWB) programme is managed by a voluntary committee which comprises seven Project Group Leaders, and the chairman, Kevin Healy.  Mayor Bob Harvey is patron.

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• Adopt a Spot
• Clean Stream Waitakere
• EcoWise Community Awards
• Operation Spring Clean
• Plant Pests
• Trees for Babies
• War on Weeds

To contact Keep Waitakere Beautiful phone (09) 826 4276, fax (09) 826 4278, email info@kwbt.org.nz or visit www.ecomatters.org.nz/kwb.htm.

Operation Spring Clean

Spring Into Action - Help clean and green our city

1 September - 2 October

Planning for this year's Operation Spring Clean is well underway with organisers saying they're confident of an exceptional community response in 2006.

Run by Keep Waitakere Beautiful Trust in partnership with Waitakere City Council, Operation Spring Clean is in its 12th year and will run throughout the city from 1 September - 2 October.

Waitakere College students do their civic duty during Operation Spring Clean 2004 - first they cleaned up their school grounds and then collected litter and weeds from the neighbourhood around the school.

Programme manager Moira Kennedy says more than 8,200 people took part last year collecting 18.03 tonnes tonnes of litter from city parks, streams, reserves, school grounds and streets.

"Schools are always very quick to register their participation and last year we also had tremendous response from church, sport, community groups and individuals. A number of businesses also use Operation Spring Clean as an opportunity for staff team building. We're confident we'll see that level of positive activity again," she says.

The Trust provides rubbish bags and gloves free of charge to the public to help them with their efforts. If it's group activity or a lot of people in one street wanting to get involved, a jumbo bin may also be provided free.

"With the help from the public we really can make our city a healthier and more beautiful place to live. We know of people walking their dogs a different route each day and collecting litter on the way, and one person last year filled 30 rubbish bags with litter from her street.

"Another resident was recovering from a hip replacement operation and when she walked to the end of her driveway as therapy, she took long tongs and collected rubbish from the roadside at the same time. These people are really quite inspirational," Moira says.

"Every participant makes a positive difference, no matter how much litter they collect."

Registration forms are available from KWBT, ph 826 4276 or www.kwbt.org.nz

Register for Operation Spring Clean

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Operation Spring Clean Registration Form (Size 511K)

Operation Spring Clean Poster (Size 815K)

If you have a local group or project you would like to register, or would like to put your name down to help with an existing project phone Keep Waitakere Beautiful Trust on (09) 826 4276 or email info@kwbt.org.nz . 

EcoWise Community Awards

EcoWise Awards celebrate community

The exuberance of youth and long-time experience have come together in a winning formula at Keep Waitakere Beautiful Trus's second annual EcoWise Community Awards.

The Awards which celebrate volunteer action and pride in the community are held in partnership with the Tag Out Trust, Civic Contractors and Waitakere City Council.

Event manager Moira Kennedy says each of the winners has played a significant role in making Waitakere City a more attractive place in which to live, work, play and visit.

“The calibre of those nominated was just tremendous,” she says. “And it was terrific to see so many young people honoured alongside those who have volunteered their time in the community for many, many years.”

Categories and winners:

Kauri Award for the most active individual volunteer working in the community to beautify Waitakere City by reducing litter, weeds and/or graffiti:

Finalists: Garry Sturgess, Ken Catt, Lyall Gardiner, Mark Gilliver, Melissa Walen and John Sumich

Winner: Ken Catt - a tireless worker for the environment for a number of years, member Waitakere Branch Forest and Bird society

Special Junior Kauri Award: Brendan Potgieter. This special award was made to 11-year old Brendan who has organised many of his friends at Lincoln Heights School to keep the school grounds clean and litter-free. Brendan also encourages recycling and gets his classmates to collect litter from the roadsides on the way to school
 

Totara Award: Most active group of volunteers.

Finalists: West Lynn Garden Society, Huia Weed Warriors, Ark in the Park, Keep Herald Island Beautiful group, Henderson Stake " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and The Huia Community " Upland Glade Management Committee

Winner (jointly): Huia Weed Warriors and the Huia Community Upland Glade Management Committee.
 

Pohutukawa Award: For the tidiest and best presented school grounds through ongoing action by the students

Finalists: Tirimoana Primary School, New Lynn Primary School, Laingholm Primary School, Fruitvale School Garden Club, Lincoln Heights School, Kelston Deaf Education Centre and Glen Eden Primary School.

Highly commended: Tirimoana Primary School

Winner: Fruitvale School Garden Club

Puriri Award: for the best school grounds tended by students which feature composting facilities and plant propagation sites

Finalists: Laingholm Primary School, Oaklynn Special School, Room 10 Matipo Primary School and Lincoln Heights School

Winner: Oaklynn Special School in New Lynn

Kowhai Award for student leadership -for the student whose positive actions have made a difference in our community and to the environment.
Two awards were made in this category to young people doing quite different activities to make our City a better place - Jessica Grinter who developed an interest in the Pixie Stream in her fourth form year … and who is now at university pursuing an environmental career and 12-year old Sam Rawlinson from Rangeview Intermediate School for his leadership fighting graffiti in his neighbourhood.

Rimu Award for Civic Pride, sponsored by Civic Contractors: For the street which was deemed to be litter-free, graffiti-free and the tidiest and cleanest through the efforts of its residents.

Finalists: Golf Road, Wisely Road, Summerland Drive and Scenic Drive.

Winner: Summerland Drive, Waitakere Ward

Special Award for 20 years service to environmental education: Clive Lightbourne from Glen Eden Primary School who's retiring this year.

“Clive deserved a special mention at the EcoWise Awards because since Keep Waitakere Beautiful”s inception in 1993, he's always involved his students in our programmes such as Operation Spring Clean, War on Weeds, anti-graffiti campaigns and all kinds of other environmental beautification initiatives,” Moira Kennedy says. “His work has been special and he's been the most wonderful role model for his students,” she says.

They've got rhythm!

Awards have also been presented to the winners of Keep Waitakere Beautiful Trust's inaugural WasteBlasters Rhythm of Recycling competition. Held in partnership with the Tag Out Trust, this event was all about young people having fun with musical instruments they'd made themselves from recycled products.

The award for Individual WasteBlaster of the Year was won by Vincent Loos of Swanson who made a SANSA (thumb piano) from recycled timber, a coathanger, chocolate wrappers and metal staples. Vincent is home schooled and won $100.

Riva Dick of Lincoln Heights School was highly commended for his didgeridoo entry.

The WasteBlaster Rhythm of Recycling Group Award was won by Class 6C Te Pua waitanga o Te Reo at Birdwood School. The dozen students in the group made a three-stringed guitar, rainmaker, xylophone, didgeridoo and maracas from a range of recycled articles including pots and bottles. They won $300.
 

War on Weeds

War on Weeds is a programme aimed at removing the threat of environmental weeds to the natural environment of Waitakere.  War on Weeds runs every year, for the entire month of March.  13 bins are placed around the city for the convenient disposal of environmental weeds from  private property.