29 Feb 2024Congratulations to our February Tidy Kiwi Volunteer of the Month, Gary Coker of Rotorua. Gary has been a passionate litter legend for years. As an Open Spaces Operations Advisor for Rotorua Lakes Council by day, he tirelessly works with community groups and concerned individuals who request maintenance of open spaces around the city. His energy goes beyond his work, and in his spare time you can often find him making massive contributions to help clean up the city he loves. On an average night around Rotorua Lakes Gary says he can easily fill a large wool sack with bottles, broken glass, jagged metal — he’s even found old cellphones and live ammunition! His recent effort over Christmas resulted in Gary, his daughter and a friend (who had travelled from Tauranga) removing a whopping 87 tyres from the Utuhina stream within Ohinemutu, as well as road cones, a car seat, a shopping trolley and a whole mini-skip bin of discarded litter. Gary calls the stream an “absolutely gorgeous awa” and he’s working hard to help restore it to a it’s natural, pristine state. Check out the Clean Up Rotorua group Gary coordinates with the help of other passionate local volunteers. Gary is on a mission to help the city of Rotorua take out Most Beautiful Small City at our next Beautiful Awards, and he’s well on track with his efforts! Ka pai! As our Tidy Kiwi Volunteer of the Month, Gary will receive a Keep New Zealand Beautiful merchandise pack as well as a Resene paint voucher, for beautification projects or for fixing up any local graffiti he comes across. We’re always on the look out for Tidy Kiwis, so if you know someone who is going above and beyond for the environment or is doing great things in their community, nominate them to be our Tidy Kiwi Volunteer of the Month here. Share this page
