Christchurch Sea Kayaking
Cleaning up the Avon
Christchurch Sea Kayaking is dedicated to helping restore the Avon to its original beauty. Over the 2017/18 season, with the help of visitors, it collected around 35kg of rubbish from the river.
CSK takes visitors and locals kayaking through the Christchurch red zone. Owner ‘KT’ (Katarina Te Maiharoa) also talks with clients about her passion - looking after the environment. Visitors see her collecting any rubbish that she comes across in the river and they are motivated to join in.
KT says this is what the Earth needs - a change in behaviour.
“Picking up rubbish should be an everyday activity in all people’s life on the Earth and we need more businesses, especially tour operators, to showcase this behaviour change. There are quite a lot of things in the Avon! From a rubber duck, books, camping chair, jandels, shoes, balloons, a large teddy bear, drinking cans, glass bottles even a statue of Ganesh - who is, ironically, the God of removing obstacle.”
A new business, CSK recently signed up to the New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment and is initially focus on Business Commitments 11 - Businesses contribute to ecological restoration initiatives and 14 - Businesses actively engage with their visitors and communities on the importance of restoring, protecting and enhancing New Zealand’s natural environment.
35kg of rubbish!
KT and her visitors collected around 11kg of hard plastic junk and some 24kg of non-plastic junk, including 33 glass bottles, during her first season in 2017/2018.
