10 December, 2024

Rubbish project compels boys to act

Bin boys… Baxter Frost (left) and Blake Bull after presenting to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.

More rubbish bins are needed on the North Shore, two Takapuna Normal Intermediate School students have told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board.
Year 8 students Blake Bull and Baxter Frost said they decided to research the topic after reading an article saying residents were unhappy at the Auckland Council decision to remove over 30 per cent of the North Shore’s rubbish bins to cut costs. The bins were removed early this year.
The pair surveyed more than 130 people, finding that 90 per cent of respondents had encountered a situation where they needed to use a rubbish bin and couldn’t find one.
Over 65 per cent said the number of rubbish bins needed to increase to protect the environment.
Baxter and Blake said increasing the number of bins would reduce overfilling and littering.
The students said their plan of action was to identify areas on the North Shore where littering was prevalent and look at whether more bins were needed in those areas.
If they were, the pair would install bins to see if that led to an improvement.
They saw potential to take such an approach Auckland-wide.
The pair said they hoped their actions would help Auckland Council to recognise the importance of bins and re-install more across the city, making public areas tidier and more enjoyable to be in.
Blake and Baxter told the Observer they had researched the topic for a school inquiry project and decided to present to the board because that could have a bigger impact than just raising awareness at school.
Board chair Toni van Tonder said she was impressed by their “thorough and detailed” presentation.

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