About 2000 litres of rubbish, including couches and plastic bottle ''bongs'', have been found along Dunedin's coastline and waterways.
The annual Coastal Clean-up was held around the city at the weekend as part of Seaweek activities.
Organiser Noel Jhinku said the forecast bad weather held off, allowing volunteers to get stuck in.
''We got a lot more rubbish, but we also had a lot more helping out.''
About 20 people working out of the St Kilda Surf Club cleaned up St Kilda and St Clair beaches.
The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust cleaned up stretches of the Water of Leith, an Enviroschools group tackled the Ravensbourne cycleway and the Aramoana Conservation Group the beaches in its area.
A variety of rubbish was found, from appliances and seats in the student-dominated Leith St area, to rusting metal, packaging and bottles.
''The most interesting were the bongs - plastic bottles with hosing out of them.''
The Dunedin City Council helped out by sorting the rubbish so some could be recycled, he said.
