Sustainable Coastlines

18/06/2026

The start of June has been action packed 🌊

We were lucky enough to celebrate World Ocean Day in Fiji and work alongside some incredible organisations leading the way in sustainability across the Pacific. 🌏

So far this month, five beach litter surveys in Fiji have been carried out by:
• POLYP (Pacific Ocean Litter Youth Project)
• AFTER (Athletes for the Environment)
• Community Centred Conservation (C3)

Two of these surveys formed part of a large-scale event held by the Fiji Ministry of Environment, where volunteers removed incredible 3,530 litres of litter from the Suva coastline.

Across all five surveys, 7,858 individual pieces of litter were recorded, with plastic making up over 66% of all items found.

Seeing these results firsthand has been eye-opening and reinforces just how important inspired people are for protecting our coastlines and oceans.

Massive thank you to SPREP (The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme), Trashboom Pacific, POLYP, AFTER, and Community Centred Conservation (C3) for making this work possible.

Find out more at litterintelligence.org 💙

11/06/2026

What a privilege to share Litter Intelligence with these awesome groups in French Polynesia, alongside other impactful initiatives to see less waste on their beautiful coastlines! 🐬

07/06/2026

Today is World Ocean Day 🌊 and we've got a lot to celebrate!

Scientists discovered 1,121 wonderful new ocean species in a single year, and right here in Aotearoa, five new marine reserves — Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia — are coming into force next month! The first in over a decade.

Meanwhile, our community has pulled 23,371 litres of litter off our coastlines since January. 901 volunteers, eight clean-up events — plus 131 Litter Intelligence surveys across 12 regions and four Pacific Island nations!

This is what love for the moana looks like in action. The more you show it, the louder that message gets. Today, whether you brave a mid-winter swim, take a walk along the coast, or just pause to appreciate the moana — we hope you feel connected to something worth protecting.

05/06/2026

LASTING CHANGE REQUIRES COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Fiji has the capacity to develop practical solutions to address our current waste challenge, but lasting change will require collective action and responsibility.

Speaking during the Marine Litter Training on Beach Surveys and Waste Audits under the newly launched SWAP II Project, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr. Sivendra Michael said meaningful progress can be achieved when communities, organisations and individuals work together.

"The solution is here in front of us. Small actions matter, and when we join forces, they can have a significant impact," he said.

Dr. Michael pointed to initiatives such as Trashboom Pacific, which has proven effective in preventing waste from entering rivers and reaching the ocean, helping to protect Fiji's marine ecosystems. He also highlighted the success of composting communities, particularly in areas without regular waste collection services, as examples of practical local solutions.

He stressed the importance of understanding Fiji's waste composition before implementing waste management projects. A large proportion of the country's waste consists of household and green waste, areas where citizens can play a direct role in reducing pollution through responsible disposal and composting practices.

While clean-up campaigns remain important, Dr. Michael said Fiji must move beyond a culture of continuously collecting rubbish discarded by others.

"How long can we keep picking up rubbish left behind through irresponsible behaviour?" he questioned.

He emphasised the need to strengthen compliance with environmental laws and fully enforce existing legislation to address persistent littering and illegal waste disposal.

The training brought together Ministry of Environment and Climate Change staff, University of the South Pacific students, Trashboom Pacific representatives and international development partners.

Participants received both classroom and field-based training, including beach surveys, waste collection, waste profiling and safe handling procedures for hazardous materials, while learning the importance of using proper protective equipment during clean-up activities.

Sustainable Coastlines

05/06/2026

Litter surveys in Fiji this World Environment Day! Local people, local data = local solutions to a global problem 🌏🏝

02/06/2026

At the start of May, our wāhine crew had the privilege of joining on a sail trip to Aotea / Great Barrier Island 🏝️

After a 5am departure from Tāmaki Makaurau, we made our way to Port Fitzroy. Along the journey we deployed a manta trawl to collect water samples for microplastic analysis, later investigating what we found under the microscope 🔬

The following day we headed to Katherine Bay to carry out a beach clean-up survey. Within a 1,000 square-metre area we removed 57.1 kg of rubbish — 749 items in total, 716 of which were plastic.

What made this especially striking was that the beach has no foot access, meaning the debris accumulating there is likely arriving via ocean currents and wind, much of it originating from Auckland and maritime activity.

The results from our survey are available on the Litter Intelligence website!

It was an incredible experience, and a reminder of the power of collaboration. Thank you to the amazing eXXpedition crew for having us on board 🌊♻️

Read more about our voyage on our news page.
https://sustainablecoastlines.org/exxpedition-on-aotea/

27/05/2026

13/05/2026

Come join us next weekend for another awesome beach Clean-Up event thanks to Trumpet!

📍 Onehunga foreshore, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Meet at Taumanu reserve (look out for our flags!)
📅 Saturday 23 May - 9:30am-12:00pm
👉 Register at sustainablecoastlines.org/events — link in bio.

This is a free event with all gear provided and all ages welcome. So bring along your whānau & friends 💙🐬

11/05/2026

Shout out to Dale and Caspian for auditing the litter from our recent Petone Beach Clean Up🌊Thanks to the recent storms, it was a big one!

In just a 100m x 10m survey area, Wellington locals collected 1,899 pieces of rubbish — and of that total 1,896 of them were plastic.

The most common items found were:
🥡 Food wrappers: 1,088
🧴 Bottle caps: 522

That means the majority of rubbish washing up on the Petone foreshore is single-use plastic.

What’s even more alarming is the increase since the last survey:
Food wrappers jumped from 56 to 1,088, and bottle caps from 22 to 522.

This data shows how the way we use and dispose of plastic is directly impacting our coastlines and moana. The good news is that we all have the power to do something about it!

Next time you’re at the beach, take a moment to pick up three pieces of rubbish. And next time you’re at the shop, swap one item for a sustainable alternative. Small actions add up 💙