Divers, school children, clubs and the general public have been invited to take part in the clean-up of the popular Otago Peninsula beach this morning.
Project Aware co-ordinator Emma Young, of Dive Otago, said it was an annual event held by Project Aware internationally in September and this year coincided with Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week and Conservation Week.
It was also a chance for people to dive in an area not normally dived in, she said.
The aim was to clean up the seabed and the beach of any debris such as plastic bags, bottles and tops from bottles, which all proved to be hazards not only for marine life but bird life as well.
"It's the little stuff which is really detrimental to marine life."
However, most of the rubbish which ended up in the sea started out in people's own back yards, she said.
"It gets blown from there into a stream and then it runs into the ocean - its just a big chain."
She urged people to pick up rubbish in their own back yards and, if they could not make it to the Macandrew Bay clean-up, to go to any beach or waterway and do their own clean-up.
The clean-up begins at 9.30am-10am at Macandrew Bay Yacht Club and ends with a barbecue.
Tomorrow, Our Seas Our Future is co-ordinating the Dunedin Coastal Clean-Up from noon, based at St Kilda Surf Club. Conservation groups and surf clubs will be holding clean-ups on beaches at Brighton, Aramoana (10am), Tomahawk-Smaills, St Kilda-Lawyers Head and Allans Beach.
Co-ordinator Noel Jhinku said people were encouraged to join in. Bags and gloves would be available at the surf club.
"Last time we did a clean-up at St Kilda we collected 300 litres, so it will be interesting to see how much we pick up on the day."
