Volunteers spruce up Te Puke town centre

A small band of volunteers spent an hour collecting rubbish, especially cigarette butts, on Sunday morning. Photo / Supplied

If Te Puke town centre looks a little less untidy this week, then it’s thanks to a small group of rubbish collectors.

Rallied by Keep Te Puke Beautiful co-ordinator Craig Wallace, the small group concentrated their Sunday morning efforts on the south side of Jellicoe St and particularly picking up cigarette butts after Wallace had heard about a similar initiative in the UK.

Wallace said he was rapt with the results and with the efforts of the volunteers.

“Just to have a group out there with the jackets on and working away on the different areas and getting some recognition from the people passing by just gave it a positive feeling.”

Wallace had done a recce around the town centre to see where the most attention was needed.

“To have one person do it, it’s just too much – so it’s just about getting a small team of committed people to make a difference. And it’s much nicer if you are sitting there having a coffee and looking out on the gardens.”

It was the first time a group had been mobilised since Te Puke became recognised as part of the Keep New Zealand Beautiful family.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful has provided some resources such as high-viz jackets, gloves, grabbers and T-shirts.

Wallace started by with picking up a few stray pieces of rubbish near his home, but with a fast-food outlet, a high school and a cricket field nearby, he quickly realised the scale of the issue.

He sought out the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website and discovered what other groups in New Zealand were doing.

Wallace hoped to repeat the exercise monthly.