High-vis wearing, sack and grabber-carrying individuals were a feature of Te Puke town centre last Friday afternoon.

They were taking part in an event that was the culmination of a week of rubbish gathering around the town – the Great Te Puke Tidy Up.

An afternoon clean-up and pizza party has been held for a number of years, but this was the first time it had been extended out to a week-long event by organisers Epic Te Puke.

Nate Rossiter and Rosalie Dale, both 11. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Epic Te Puke’s Sally Benning said she thought the afternoon went really well.

“I’ve not been to the last two, but from people who were, there were quite a lot more people this year collecting, so that’s encouraging.”

During the week staff from Poutiri Wellness Centre and members of Te Puke Scouts and Te Puke Kiwicoast Lions had their own collections.

“The fact that we did it as a week-long thing and had groups who collected things before Friday, that was a good idea, because not everyone could make it on the Friday,” said Benning.

Based at The Daily Café where free pizza was on offer for those helping out, there were also displays from organisations like Predator Free Bay of Plenty, MOWS, the Sea Cleaner Trust and Envirohub.

Kiki Kiwi with the collected rubbish. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Kiki Kiwi, the Keep New Zealand Beautiful mascot, also put in an appearance, thanks to Keep Te Puke Beautiful’s Craig Wallace.

“I think it was fun and great to work with Keep Te Puke Beautiful this year.”

The collectors from Poutiri Trust focused on the area around the old railway station on Jellicoe St and filled a trailer.

“The other side of all this is, it’s great that people have come out and great that they have collected rubbish, but, gosh, it’s pretty scary how much rubbish is collected,” said Benning.

Sora Cheetham, 11, left, and Keira Simmons, 10, with Kiki Kiwi. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

“I don’t know how you get over that. A lot of people are trying really hard to educate people and that is part of what we are trying to do.”

All 247.9kg – up 153kg from last year – of the rubbish was taken to Te Puke recycling centre.