More than 300kg of rubbish expected to be pulled from Mount waterways this weekend

Tony Plank, Liz Plank and Liesel Carnie (left to right) are all the major organisers of the event. Photo / George Novak

More than 30 divers are hitting our waters this weekend to do an underwater clean-up, collecting rubbish littering the Mount Maunganui coastline.

The event is being put on by Dive Zone Tauranga as a part of Sea Week and is happening this Sunday at Pilot Bay.

The public is being urged to don some gloves and take part in a beach clean-up also happening on location on the day.

Dive Zone Tauranga owner Tony Plank said last year the event only had nine divers and still managed to pick up 90kg of rubbish.

Things such as tyres, fishing line, beer bottles and even road cones were found in the harbour last year, and Plank was certain more would be found this year.

Plank said upwards of 10kg of rubbish was expected to be brought up per person - more than 300kg of litter in total.

Divers would scour the Pilot Bay coastline of Mauao and towards the wharf end of the bay.

The beach clean up is being put on by Envirohub, in collaboration with the Western Bay of Plenty Wildlife Trust.

The entire event is part of the Sustainable Backyards environmental month that happens every March, with more than 160 events throughout the Bay of Plenty.

Liesel Carnie, a project manager for Envirohub, said this was the 14th year the organisation had put on Sustainable Backyards and that it continued to grow.

The number of environmental events advertised in their calendar was up more than 20 on the year before, she said.

Liz Plank, co-owner of Dive Zone Tauranga, said the event could not have gone ahead without the collaborative effort from Envirohub, the Tauranga City Council and Waste Management.

Tauranga City Council helped organise parking and other small aspects, and Waste Management donated a skip for all the rubbish collected.

Event Information:

Where: Pilot Bay - boat ramp end.

When: Sunday from 10am - 1pm.

Bring: If diving - Dive gear, catch bag and tank if you have one, in return Dive Zone will provide a coupon for two free tank fills.

If beach cleaning - Yourself.

Any interested divers must register at the Dive Zone Tauranga website.

There is no cost involved and a free sausage sizzle afterwards.