Bitter litter lessons in stream clean-up

Hannah Tanesy, left, 10, Maia Renata, 10, Tacy Aitchison, 15, and Sam Baldwin, 10, with some of the items removed from the Utuhina Stream yesterday. Photo / Bridie Witton

About 100 Rotorua school students have taken time out of the classroom to pick up rubbish along the Utuhina Stream, even stopping a man trying to dump his household refuse.

A group of Malfroy School students, called the Utuhina Warriors, received $4000 from the Rotorua Lakes Council's Neighbourhood Matching Fund to clean up the stream. There are plans for developments in the stream, which is used for educational purposes by the school.

Yesterday they teamed up with students from John Paul College, Fordlands Community Centre representatives, Fordlands Kindergarten and Westbrook School in removing vacuum cleaners, bicycle wheels, plastic bottles and even a mini-fridge and a fold-out couch from the stream, which is used as a swimming hole by children in the area.

The stream is also a popular trout fishery.

Malfroy School teacher Helen Ramsdale said the students were excited about cleaning the stream, despite seeing someone trying to litter.

"The kids were struggling to get their head around it. They had been picking up rubbish all morning.

"It [the clean-up] fits well with our concept of kaitiakitanga and sustainability. Kaitiakitanga is about passing things down from your ancestors, and these kids want to pass down a healthy stream so it's time to do something about it. We can make a difference."

The students will test the stream as part of their maths and science curriculums.

Tacy Aitchison, 15, said there was more rubbish in the stream than she expected.

The students had lots of ideas on how to stop littering in the area, such as more bins, more recycling centres and more awareness of what can be taken to the dump.