Arihia Peni wasn’t looking for a pat on the back when she picked up rubbish on a recent morning hikoi.
“I was just trying to encourage people to want to get out and do it,” she said.
But the Paeroa community has since rallied around the 33-year-old Mum and her son, Takarei Rayner, in their clean-up efforts.
Arihia was encouraged to post a photo of the rubbish they collected one morning on a community Facebook page to inspire others to take part.
Soon after, the tidy pair were inundated with positive feedback from hundreds of people on the Paeroa Post Facebook page.
The response was “really cool” according to Arihia, and Takarei, 13, said it was good to hear positivity.
People thanked them for “keeping our town clean” – even people who were originally from Paeroa but had moved away.
Arihia said she also made friends with a neighbour, who was keen to join in the mission, and other residents also kept an eye out for the pair every morning.
One lady greeted Arihia when she walked past her house, and some people even offered kai, like steamed pudding, she said.
But that wasn’t all they received.
The Facebook post connected Arihia and Takarei with someone from out of town who managed their parents’ property in Paeroa, and they offered Takarei a lawn mowing job, she said.
“It gives him a little bit of pocket money.”
But what they were doing was a “small step” compared to the work “heaps of people” had been doing for a long time, Arihia said. The pair aimed to go out for at least 40 minutes each morning, she said, because “[Takarei’s] got to get ready for school, and I’ve got to get ready for work”, but on the weekends – “I can go as long as I want”.
While out on a walk from Thames Rd, Bennett St, Olga St and through to Primrose Hill and down the other side – she collected two bags filled with rubbish, and even found a crutch.
A challenge the pair faced was carrying the rubbish bags once they were filled and heavy, so they were looking for a suitable way to carry the rubbish that allowed them to keep their hands free, she said.
But people and businesses also offered support to Arihia, including disposing of some of the rubbish.
Arihia, who is a Goldfields School teacher aide, said she was interested to see if anyone would post any of their own rubbish-collecting photos on social media, but understood if people were hesitant to pitch in.
“I understand nobody wants to pick up dirty rubbish with their hands.”
Arihia said she and Takarei were lucky enough to get some “rubbish pickers” or extendable grabbing tools from Goldfields School.
“They were broken ones that I just super glued back together. It was just the handle part that needed to be fixed.”
But it was the mahi (work) from her students at Goldfields School that initially encouraged her.
Picking up rubbish was something the students did on Mondays as part of their programme, Arihia said.
The students collected rubbish around playgrounds at the Railway Reserve Playground and Paeroa Domain.
“If kids with diversity can do it, then there’s no excuse for anyone else to not be able to do it.”
But Arihia is an ideas person.
As soon as she and Takarei started collecting rubbish on their walks, she sparked an idea to start up a programme for kids, she said, which would encourage kids to get out for a bit of fitness, while helping pick up rubbish at the same time, she said.
“I just think it would take a lot of organisation.”
But Arihia’s main motivation was for kids and their parents to get “out and about” together. “It’s more [about] getting the parents out to do more with their kids. Even little things like going for a walk and picking up rubbish.”
Arihia said although she believed it wasn’t the company’s fault, the majority of the rubbish they had picked up around town was from McDonalds.
Takarei said one positive thing was he got a couple of instant wins for food from McDonalds promotional stickers he found while picking up rubbish. “But also, don’t dump your rubbish,” he said.
Arihia has been in contact with McDonalds to see if they could help be part of keeping Paeroa clean.
McDonald’s New Zealand head of impact and communications Simon Kenny said: “we hate seeing Macca’s packaging litter in public places”.
Simon said globally McDonald’s was committed to helping reduce waste and advance a circular economy, and in New Zealand, they supported national litter programmes and organisations.
“We’d encourage people to contact our restaurants and have a conversation, and see what constructive options may be available for us to play a part in addressing the societal issues around litter.”
Arihia and Takarei’s objective was to inspire others to get involved.
Takarei said each time someone else got involved, it encouraged others to do it too.
And Arihia said, now she had made her efforts public, “I kind of have to hold myself accountable”.
“It’s changed my mindset.”
