Te Tu’anga Taporoporo/National Environment Service witnessed an “alarming” amount of waste collected during Clean Up Cook Islands Day held earlier this month, which has more than doubled from previous years.

A total of 835 kilograms of waste was collected in Rarotonga alone, twice as much trash that was collected in 2023 (357kg).

NES stated that almost every category of trash weighed in this year was three or four times more than previous years.

“Apart from general waste, glass bottles were recorded the second highest in every group’s collection, particularly from our schools,” it said.

The waste collection amounted to: 386.5kg of general waste, 80kg of plastic bottles, 79.5kg of aluminium cans, 190.5kg glass bottles, and 98.5kg of miscellaneous items including scrap metal, building supplies and half of a canoe.

Over 800 volunteers from communities, schools, public and private sectors in Rarotonga and in the Pa Enua participated in the annual event in a collaborative effort to keep the paradise clean and green - Ipukarea Tumanava.

NES senior finance officer Tohoa Puna noted that the children from Apii Takitumu collected 62.5kg of waste and 24kg of this trash was glass bottles.

Puna said: “98 per cent of those glass bottles were alcohol bottles, this is disheartening to see, and something our children should not be picking up.”

Meanwhile in Aitutaki, NES Aitutaki officer Linda Ruamoana also noted a similarity in the “astounding” trash children collected.

Ruamoana noted that the waste their school children picked up was adult rubbish, in particular alcohol bottles and cans.

“We want to encourage and remind everyone that we each have a responsibility to keep our Cook Islands clean, for our environment and our children,” NES said.

The Clean Up Cook Islands Day coincided with the World Clean Up Day theme “Artic Cities and Marine Litter”. The aim this year was to inspire communities to combat waste and pollution while promoting sustainable practices.