On Sunday, March 15, our OHS Enviro group took part in the Sustainable Coastlines Onehunga Beach Clean Up, along with several local schools.

As part of community initiatives between schools for sustainability and the care of the local whenua, Onehunga Primary School teacher, Jackie Arthur, invited OHS to join in with their group of students

The Sustainable Coastlines "Litter Intelligence" programme is a community, schools and businesses initiative to count and weigh every piece of plastic. Our students are contributing to a national database used by the Ministry for the Environment to help change laws (like the ban on single-use plastic bags). The programme has recorded higher-than-average plastic waste litter in Manukau Harbour. One survey at Onehunga Wharf in 2025 found that 92% of collected litter was plastic. Most of the litter found at the Wharf comes from stormwater drains in our streets, meaning what we do on land directly impacts our moana.

By taking part in the Clean Up, our OHS Enviro student volunteers helped remove harmful debris before it could enter waterways and harm marine life. If you’re curious, follow the maths, statistics and outcomes of the audit, and you’ll find these results interesting:

https://litterintelligence.org/data/survey?id=3798

Thank you, Nathan Marshall and Arlo Gould, International students Maho Shiosaka and Haruka Naoi and teacher Ms Plowman.