What’s plogging? Five ways to make your neighbourhood a cleaner place

Louise Barnes

New Zealand Listener·

18 Sep, 2026 06:06 PM4 mins to read

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During Clean Up Week ’25, 1200 volunteers picked up 30 tonnes of rubbish in five days. Photo / Getty Images

Forget about your Sunday sleep-in: September 20 is World Cleanup Day – time to jump up and join international efforts to make the world tidier. Then again, Kiwis have been keeping New Zealand beautiful for decades longer than the internationally recognised event.

“This has been happening for years
with Keep New Zealand Beautiful. It’s our 60th anniversary next year, so that’s a whole new story in itself,” says Wayne Gazley, Keep NZ Beautiful’s national support manager.

Rather than limiting the effort to one day, New Zealand dedicates a full week – September 18-25 – to cleaning up streets, highways, parks and beaches.

“Last year, we had 1200 volunteers picking up 30 tonnes of rubbish in five days,” says Gazley. The amount is an indication of how bad it is out there. “We will pick up more than that this year but it’s just a shocker.”

He says more volunteers turning out clean up would help deal with what is a massive and ongoing problem.

World Cleanup Day was added to the United Nations calendar of international days and weeks at the end of 2023, but the seed was planted in Estonia in 2008, when 50,000 citizens came together for five hours to clean up the whole country.

With its overwhelming success, the idea took hold through the organisation Let’s Do It World, which in 2018 fuelled the first worldwide concerted effort by co-ordinating a rolling 36-hour “greenwave”.

It began in the earliest time zone – Fiji – before rippling across the globe, finally reaching American Samoa at the end of the day. In 2025, 25 million people took part in 190 countries.

In Aotearoa, Keep NZ Beautiful is the national body that raises funds and awareness. It is also responsible for a pair of iconic taglines: “Be a Tidy Kiwi” and “Do the Right Thing”. However, when it comes to events the non-profit prefers to support local efforts co-ordinated by community groups from Te Tai Tokerau Northland to Ōtepoti Dunedin in the south.

Some of these are registered with World Cleanup Day but Keep NZ Beautiful doesn’t necessarily promote the single-day event, believing in continuing the tradition of its Clean Up Week.

Of course, being a tidy Kiwi doesn’t end when the week’s over.

“It’s not just something that you can only do during that week, you can do it every day,” says Gazley. “Our problems in New Zealand are no different than anyone else’s and we just need to be doing what we need to do in our own backyard.

“I’ve got people that now carry little bags in their pockets and a glove. Just one glove is enough, and they just open their bag, pick up the rubbish with the glove and carry on with their walk. It doesn’t need to be a big thing.”

Five simple things you can do to clean up your street:

Report illegal dumping Illegal dumping is one of NZ’s largest growing rubbish problems. Rising disposal fees amid a rising cost of living are contributing to it. Reporting illegal dumping to your local or regional council via their website prompts quick removal and can deter repeat offenders. The Snap Send Solve app also provides a way for easy reporting. Take pride in your front garden Now that spring has sprung, tidying up and beautifying your front garden and berm encourages a sense of pride in your neighbourhood. By keeping things neat and attractive, less rubbish can be hidden in unruly grass. Surrounding households may also be swayed to do the same. Plogging The Swedish phenomenon combines your daily or weekly jog with picking up rubbish. Take a glove and a rubbish bag with you on your next walk or run around the block and pick up everything you find on your way. Take the full rubbish bag back home to dispose of properly.Secure your bins This one’s for Wellingtonians: secure your bin lid with a bin clip. Bins that are not secured risk being scavenged by seagulls or, on particularly windy days swept down the street. If that happens, take the time to pick up what you can.Create a community Get involved with your neighbours and surrounding community groups to create a common goal. People may be encouraged to pick up more rubbish if they have others to plog with, while your neighbours may need help to maintain their gardens.

New Zealand Clean Up Week runs from September 18-25. For a full programme of events near you, check out knzb.org.nz.

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