Marine rubbish in the Auckland area - what to do

[lisae 0]

Hi all

 

I've posted before but am now here in my professional capacity as a waste consultant thus the new name.

 

We are doing some work for the Auckland Council on marine waste. Where does it come from, what is it, how can they best manage it. As you will all probably know, since amalgamation the Auckland Council covers a huge marine area including popular spots like Kawau & GBI.

 

If anybody would be willing to share their views, I can email or phone you - send me a PM or contact me on 021 02062206, lisa@eunomia-consulting.co.nz. Or you can just post here

 

Thanks

Lisa

[Grinna 2]

When you say marine waste, what do you mean exactly?

 

Are we talking about flotsam here? Things like logs, branches, tyres, plastic bottles, jandals, etc ... stuff that's generally come from stormwater drains or has been dumped or otherwise ended up in the intertidal in upper harbour estuaries and has floated down the harbour during spring tides, for instance.

 

Or are we talking about waste that's come from commercial fishing or marine farms? Things like bits of rope, buoys, fishing line, etc.

 

Or are we talking about waste from recreational boats? Things like spinnaker bags, winch handles, shackle pins, bolts, nuts, bottle caps, bottles, cans, citrus (very persistent and it floats) or other organic or vegetable matter, plastic wrapping, paper.

 

Or are we talking sewage waste from recreational boats?

 

All of these different categories of waste in the marine environment require different responses.

 

For instance, rubbish barges at Great Barrier Island over the Xmas period is a great idea. Boaties can dump garbage on the barge instead of carting trash about or dumping it over the side. Great idea. Generally, I think if people in this country have an option to dispose of rubbish responsibly, they'll do it. If you're looking to this group to get answers about, say, random flotsam that comes down the harbour on spring tides then I don't think you'll get a great response.

 

Waste minimisation is about source control. You'll find a strong opinion from some here that packaging should be reduced drastically .... that will help reduce rubbish. Opportunities for the boating public to dispose of rubbish responsibly in an easy and hassle free way is a great start. After that, its a case of cleaning up estuaries and intertidal areas that have suffered from years of historical abuse in terms of dumping of trash.

[lisae 0]

HI Grinna

 

thanks for your questions - I'll clarify what we're looking into.

 

The rubbish/waste in question is that coming from marine users - so fishing boats (commercial and recreational), yachties, even kayakers I guess. And we are focused on solid waste - so that excludes sewage technically (although the point could be argued!!).

 

Your comments about the rubbish barge on Great Barrier over summer are interesting, and that's exactly the type of behaviour we're interested in. What do users do if they moor somewhere where there isn't a barge? Do you hang on to it till the next stop? Take it home? What if you're in a place (like the Bay of Islands) where you're supposed to be using a specific pre-paid bag?

 

I totally take your point about packaging as well - and the Auckland Council do have plans to lobby central government on this - but it's always a point worth reiterating. I would expect that packaging would be an even more important issue when out on a boat - as a lot of your supplies are going to be packaged in some way.

 

Comments about food waste also interesting - e.g. orange skins float & persist. Any other gems along these lines?

 

Thanks very much

Lisa

[Murky 1]

The changes to what was previously a good system in the BOI over the past couple of years have been a total #$%& up in my view.

 

I note your original post specifies "the Auckland area" but happy to provide some comments on what I see as having gone wrong in the Bay, if they are in any way useful.

[Grinna 2]

OK, well ... things like spinnaker bags, winch handles, shackle pins etc was a bit facetious on my part. Nobody drops those sorts of things over the side on purpose, but it happens occasionally none-the-less.

 

In terms of rubbish on cruising boats over summer, for day trips most boaties would keep their rubbish and take it home. For longer trips its my understanding that most boaties would prefer to be able to dump rubbish onshore if there are facilities available to do so. This is from personal observation of public rubbish bins at places like Oneroa Beach on Waiheke, Man o'War Bay, Waiheke or Woody Bay at Rakino where the rubbish bins can get filled fairly quickly. The rubbish barge at Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island is used extensively over the Xmas period.

 

Personally, if we can't easily dump rubbish ashore, we'll hang onto it for the duration of our cruise. Other islands like Ponui (privately owned) don't seem to get littered with rubbish so I'm guessing that most other boaties are the same ... hang onto your rubbish until you can either dump it or you get home.

 

From what I've seen, organic rubbish (fruit and vege scraps, fish bits, etc) and even paper products (like handy towels) often get chucked overboard with the assumption that they will decompose. Partly because organic rubbish is seen as degradable and partly because its the stuff that tends to get smelly. Lemon and lime skins (wedges, slices and squeezed halves) seem to be the main culprit for persistence from what I've seen .... remnants of the gin and tonics perhaps?

 

Bay of Islands also have a rubbish barge over the Xmas period (or at least they did). Not sure about specific rubbish bags being required.

 

Popular bays for cruising would be good spots for rubbish facilities.

 

Having seen the behaviour of NZ crowds vs European crowds at sporting events I would suggest that Kiwis tend to have a strong culture of not littering compared to belgians, french and italians. I've seen europeans throw rubbish on the ground when they were only a few metres from a bin, while kiwis tend to put rubbish in bins (until they get full .... adn then all bets are off). Most boaties are out in these nice bays because they're nice places to be .... dumping rubbish in them is counter productive.

[Megwyn 2]

There was one year that there was a barge at Man o War Bay Waiheke too. It was well used.

 

This is an excellent idea.

 

We are like Grinna. We take our rubbish with us and only dump it in an appropriate place. We are out there to enjoy the best of NZ, and the last thing we want is to be floating in rubbish. We try not to let anything go overboard - especially our sunglasses and sunhats but I did loose a towel one day off patio bay - it sank straight to the bottom. If you find it can you send it back? It was one of my favourites.

 

Yachties also can be accused of picking up the rubbish they find on the beaches they visit.

 

Day trips - we take our rubbish home with us.

[lisae 0]

Murky:

yes, comments on BoI would be welcome too. My understanding there is that the barge they used to use was knackered and instead of replacing it, they decided to try a different system for a summer. They are currently investigating ways that a barge could perhaps be provided again (they being regional & district council, and DoC).

However interesting to note that (as Grinna also queried) pre-paid rubbish bags are supposed to be used there - although I'm told over half of what was dumped was not, and instead was just in black sacks.

 

How boaties could access pre-paid bags is something we are interested in too - do you go ashore for provisions on most trips? Do you often travel to the Hauraki Gulf from outside the area? and vice versa? Would you buy bags from a bait shop or similar before going - or are there way too many who don't go out to fish to make that a viable option?

 

Grinna:

Boaties that take their rubbish home after a day trip - how many of them would find a litter bin by the boat ramp to get rid of it, instead of driving it home? Illegal dumping in and by litter bins at more isolated boat ramps (Leigh?) can be a problem - considering that litter bins are just for that, litter.

 

Interesting observations on organic waste - along the lines of what I was thinking.

 

I agree that if people are given the option to do the 'right' thing, they'd usually do that. How the Council can fit that in with DoC systems, land-based systems etc, is more difficult.

 

ETA: thanks Megwyn. I'll ask the Council's contractors to keep an eye out for your towel

[Fusion 0]

Hi Lisa

 

I think you may find a large amount of harbor rubbish is from day trippers or blown from shore. Coke bottles and chip packets seem to be the most common.

Most yachts are self sufficient and return with all their rubbish. The only other option is specific bin locations. Scott's Landing, Port Fitzroy, Man o war passage rubbish barge, Glass recycling bin at Oneroa. Food waste is an interesting one. Bread and crusts for the ducks, a half eaten sausage for the fish. Vegetable waste is an interesting one as most float. We double bag all waste and rubbish and dump it back at the marina. The old ACC recycling bin for glass.

[Fogg 427]

I have an 'organic' box on board in the galley - it's one of those large square ice-cream tubs that I throw all food scraps into whilst cooking in the galley. Usually takes a coupke of days to fill up. Then when next underway in open water I empty it over the stern, it's just organic food, peelings etc.

 

It means the bin bag itself only has dry, non-foody stuff that can ideally be compressed down for disposal ashore. Except for the beer bottles of course which go into a separate box (the one they came in) also for disposal ashore.

[Fusion 0]

Boaties that take their rubbish home after a day trip - how many of them would find a litter bin by the boat ramp to get rid of it, instead of driving it home? Illegal dumping in and by litter bins at more isolated boat ramps (Leigh?) can be a problem - considering that litter bins are just for that, litter.

 

99% on here are yachts out of marinas. Boat ramps don't play a part. As part marina fees large bins are part of the cost. Purchasing pre-pay bags is not an option.

 

How boaties could access pre-paid bags is something we are interested in too - do you go ashore for provisions on most trips? Do you often travel to the Hauraki Gulf from outside the area? and vice versa? Would you buy bags from a bait shop or similar before going - or are there way too many who don't go out to fish to make that a viable option?

 

 

 

Boaties that take their rubbish home after a day trip - how many of them would find a litter bin by the boat ramp to get rid of it, instead of driving it home? Illegal dumping in and by litter bins at more isolated boat ramps (Leigh?) can be a problem - considering that litter bins are just for that, litter.

[Murky 1]

Murky:

yes, comments on BoI would be welcome too. My understanding there is that the barge they used to use was knackered and instead of replacing it, they decided to try a different system for a summer. They are currently investigating ways that a barge could perhaps be provided again (they being regional & district council, and DoC).

However interesting to note that (as Grinna also queried) pre-paid rubbish bags are supposed to be used there - although I'm told over half of what was dumped was not, and instead was just in black sacks.

 

My guess would be that three-quarters or more of the boats that are in the BOI over the Christmas peak have travelled from elsewhere e.g. Auckland or in our case, Tutukaka.

 

If the weather is good, many will do their best to remain in what is known as "the outer bay" without requiring a trip to Russell or Opua to re-stock for 10 days or possibly longer. That kind of mission usually takes a full day, particularly for a yacht, and is never a highlight of the holiday. I have one mate who managed a month away with a family of four and never went near a shop.

 

The Christmas just gone, I was part of and also observed a very big number of boaties who were more than willing to play (and pay) by the system, exchanging information between boats, trying to obtain information via smartphones, looking for information posted on shore, watching through binoculars...and could find nothing.

 

Specific issues, as I see them, are:

 

- availability of bags/stickers and information needs to take into account the huge number of boats coming from out of local area. I understand the bags stipulated in the BOI last Christmas are unique to the Far North, and maybe even unique to one area of the Far North (i.e. they are not the type used by family who live in Kerikeri), neither by us, less than 30 nautical miles to the south.

 

- website communication, signs/brochures on shore at logical places, DoC boat cruising round the bays giving out handouts or selling bags/stickers would work.

 

- Publicity in local BOI centric newspapers is never going to reach the majority of people it needs to.

 

- Sale of bags/stickers through BOI chandleries/shops is going to work for BOI-based boats but not for visitors, who, as mentioned above, in an ideal holiday will try to get by without needing to go to any of the above.

 

Making them available in chandleries and shops in Auckland or elsewhere in Northland would work to some extent, as long as it was accompanied by sufficient communication that people in the pre-Christmas panic would realise they were going to need.

 

- in my view, even in these times, most boaties come armed with sufficient cash for expenses of this kind (either purchases of bags or just pay an appropriate fee - to be honest, it is no big deal in the context of a holiday to hand over a $5 note to get the rubbish off the boat, which is approximately twice the relevant bag cost).

 

- I also understand, from subsequent media publicity, that the dropoff point at Russell was located approximately a 1km walk away from the shops etc that the boaties will frequent. It should go without saying that asking people to walk a kilometre with a week or more's rubbish on their back, in the heat of summer, is never going to get the desired result.

 

- there has been a lot of subsequent media publicity along the lines of "naughty boaties just dropped their rubbish". This is unhelpful and overlooks the reality that boaties bagged their rubbish, went to logical places carrying money and couldn't find any clue as to what they were expected to do.

[Farrari 4]

Hi Lisa

 

I'd agree with the points already raised. When I'm going away for a short trip i will always bring the rubbish back with me and dump it in the rubbish bin provided by my marina. When going away for extended periods of time I will try and use the rubbish barges e.g. Barrier & ManOWar. The use of prepaid rubbish bags is a bit difficult however. I generally won't go ashore for stores until later in the trip and will generally have had to store & empty rubbish before then. Trying to find information where to dump rubbish (or if it has to be paid for prior) can be quite difficult at times. The process of finding out seems to rely on word of mouth or local knowledge. It's a bit like trying to find out where a good quality water source is - can be quite difficult at times.

 

My pet pieve at the moment is waking up to diesel slicks. I have been in pristine bays with other boats using gensets overnight only to find the colourful rainbow on the water come time to jump in and have a morning swim Polution of this kind probably isn't in your scope I suspect.

[Murky 1]

Just one other point that I should have added: I would see advertising on commercial radio being marginal, since we all discovered that iPods mean we can listen to music without ads BUT

 

the nowcasting weather service on VHF is very well used by boaties in both Auckland and the BOI (different channels in each location) and usually ends with a plug for Coastguard. If something like this could be negotiated (even if only for the summer peak and the leadup) it would be a very effective way of getting the message out.

[Murky 1]

And finally (or maybe not):

 

I understand there were complaints from the BOI rubbish contractor that some of the rubbish bags contained recyclables.

 

The previous rubbish barge made this aspect easier, by having designated compartments for recyclables.

 

Realistically I think that some will separate their recyclable and some not, according to their outlook on life and the space they have available on board, but what is important is that the expectation is well communicated from the outset i.e. in practical terms, boaties need to know from Day 1 of their holiday that they should be keeping recyclables separate. Even by Day 5 it has gone past the point where anyone wants to go ferreting back in there.

[El Toro 97]

The problem with the prepaid rubbish bags up in the Bay was that if you are coming from the south, you have to first to get to Paihia and purchase them, then head back south to dump the rubbish.

 

I am often heading further north and don’t want to waste two days dumping rubbish.

 

An honesty box or even a bank acc on the barge so users can pay would be nice.

 

Personally I think it’s a crime there aren’t more barges or places to dump trash around…. I was on more than one occasion forced to make a hefty detour during a five week jaunt around the gulf a few years back to dump rubbish ... even many marinas wont accept gypsies like me's trash.

 

I think alot of people are happy to pay a few bucks to dump trash, but aren’t simply given the option to

[lisae 0]

Fusion – thanks for your comments.

 

Ailys comet – given what others have said about some organic waste floating, have you ever noticed problems with this technique? And when you talk about ‘disposal onshore’, what does this usually involve?

 

Murky – gosh, lots of well considered comments on the BoI situation here. Do you mind if I pass some of these on? Certainly a lot to think about with respect to logistics and communications and some great suggestions. Thank you.

 

Farrari – sorry, diesel slicks (while horrid) are not in the scope… I will pass it on though.

 

As far as recyclables go, interesting data I’ve seen suggests that a good half of what comes off boats is recyclables. For this reason, having a good (free) recycling system would seem a no-brainer.

 

Pork Chop – thank you for your comments on the logistics of pre-paid bags. It’s definitely not a simple one and I think we may need to look at some very creative ‘on the spot’ solutions.

 

Thanks all, for your input so far! Very illuminating.

[Guest]

What everyone else said and a subject close to me heart.

 

I was gobsmacked at the amount of rubbish we collected just after one week. Almost every bit of it bullshit plastic packaging only there to make the sellers life easier and due to a often very strange Govt regulations. These days if I consider something over packaged I either just don't buy it or I'll buy it them strip all the packaging off and leave it on the shops counter.... much to the displeasure of a Mitre 10 manger just a few days ago, and one at Dick Smiths (that one got real heated). It also resulted in a terse letter to the CEO of Steel and Tube who sold it to M10. Utter unnecessary crap is all it was. No reply as yet.

 

Anyway as we are a smaller boat room is limited so rubbish is an issue. We pack it all on to bigger bags and carry it with us until we can find some place to dump it or we take it home or to work where it goes into a skip. Some food waste does go over the side but only if the fish or birds will eat it or it breaks down fast. As Grinna noted some citrus doesn't so stuff like that stays aboard. The main reason for that over board stuff is lack of places to dump it and after a week in the sun it all becomes a horrendous stinky nitemear.

 

We would buy rubbish bags for dumping on a barge. But as PChop mentioned if that came in it couldn't be one bag for Akl and another for the Bay of Islands. They would have to cover the entire cruising area... within reason obviously, so the same bags could be used in Waiheke and Russel sort of a deal.

 

The problem is the source. Often there is no choice and generally all that packaging is to make everyone, bar the end users life easier. Kill the source and a huge amount will disappear, it's that simple. Don't kill the source and some way to dump it when out and around the Gulf will be needed.

 

Again with a smaller vessel separating recyclables can be tricky but we do what we can when we can. Often we will split them out when back on land. If there an option of say a barge with a general and a recyclable option aboard we would use both and do so happily.

 

Kiwis are pretty environmentally aware so we tend to be pretty good but as packaging grows it's only going to get harder and as that happens more will end up in our waters.

 

1st step is to bash the skull of the Maccas CEO until he realises one burger doesn't need 4 layers of packaging. I've been 350nm offshore and sailed past a bloody Maccas wrapper. That is just wrong in so many ways.

 

With Farraris comment re the slicks. Para 1 in your report should be 'Ban all boats that don't have a mast and sails, the stinky smelly things they are'

[wheels 543]

I also think that 99% of yachties have a good attitude re rubbish. We don't want to dirty up our own pool so to speak.

I have seen a very different attitude with small recreational fishers though. And i was discusted with some last Sunday when I watched some people fishing from a warf through into the water their beer and coke bottles.

I have also been really annoyed at the Westlake Rowing club leaving plastic bottles on the ramp at Hobbsonville for the tide to sweep away when it comes in.

But the most amasing thing is the rubbish in the Mud when the tide drops. There is a plastic chair and road cones and all sorts of stuff. I often collect what I can, but some is just too hard to get to or too big.

The idea of rubbish Barges out around the Gulf is a great idea. It's the biggest problem when holidaying on a boat for more than a week, where to put the rubbish that accumulates.

[Murky 1]

Murky – gosh, lots of well considered comments on the BoI situation here. Do you mind if I pass some of these on?

Yes, please do, been hoping for an opportunity. As is probably evident!

 

I think the question of prepaid bags vs stickers is worth considering - offering stickers opens it up to the whatever % that try do the right thing by turning up at the right location with their rubbish in a bag, it just happens to be the bag that they had on board the boat, rather than the "right" bag.

 

No doubt the contractors are worried about the risk of an influx of mega-sized bags but - and I wouldn't say this in every situation - given the cost of boat ownership and the investment that goes into food, grog, fuel etc for a holiday - no-one is haggling about the last 2 bucks to get rid of the rubbish. At the rate of 1 or perhaps 2 bags per holiday, it's really not high on the radar.

 

Particularly if the other option is some kind of sh*tbox unfeasible system in order to keep costs down...sorry, did I say that out loud?

[Guest]

I agree with all of the above.

 

If you give us places to dump our rubbish, we will. If you add a small incentive like a fresh water tap, you'll get get us to go out of our way to dump our rubbish … and fill up with water at the same time. I'd be very happy to pay for that.