Congratulations to Tim Hunt, our February Tidy Kiwi Volunteer of the Month

Tim is the founder of the Shopping Bag Project, with the goal of getting everyone to take a reusable shopping bag with them when they go for a walk, and fill it with litter.

Tim is a tattoo artist in Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast, and he walks the beach every day for inspiration and his mental health. He kept noticing more and more rubbish which was detracting from the walk, so he started carrying bags to collect it all, realising “it’s something a lot of people could do,” he says. “There’s a lot of people out there in those natural environments, they’re walking all the time, and they could take a bag with them and take the rubbish out of the environment.” He takes his walks and his shopping bags out at least four times a week, and from there he cleans and recycles what he can, responsibly disposing of the rest.

The most memorable piece of litter he found was on an early walk, when he spotted a realistic plastic crab at the tideline. Tim felt it was surreal and ironic, in that “I’m more likely to find a plastic crab than a live one here.” It really galvanised him to promote the project, and to make it an easy and memorable way to get people involved in removing litter from their local environment.

You can see what he’s up to on Instagram or Facebook, and join the movement he’s building to spread the word. Take a few minutes to listen to his interview with Polly Gillespie from Today FM ⬇️⬇️

Know someone keeping New Zealand beautiful? Simply nominate them on our website to become a Tidy Kiwi Volunteer of the Month