Stormwater360 were approached earlier this year by the Island Bay Marine Education Centre who run the  Experiencing Marine Reserves Programme. This programme allows the younger generation of Wellington to take an active role in ocean conservation by helping as many kids as possible to experience the underwater world right on our front doorstep. Once the children have spent some time snorkelling and have seen all the sea creatures and plants up close,  they ( hopefully) become committed caretakers of our coast.

One group of children from Wilford School who were involved in the programme were shocked to see how much rubbish is in our oceans and wanted to look at ways to stop this happening.

They contacted us to see if our stormwater management product, the LittaTrap™ would be effective in stopping this rubbish from reaching the oceans. The LittaTrap™ is an innovative catch pit insert that is installed into storm drains, and captures and retains rubbish and plastics before it can enter the drains and oceans. It is a simple solution to the plastic problem in our waterways as it is very cost effective and easy to maintain as the insert can be emptied by hand. 

Stormwater360 Director Greg Yeoman says 'there is a growing awareness of how much rubbish is flushed down our drains. Plastic bottles, cigarette butts, windblown material from recycling bins, and the oil and grease from cars all ultimately end up in streams, rivers, and the harbour'.

With the help of the students, Stormwater360 installed the two LittaTrap™s in the drains along Jackson St, Petone.  

One of the key design features of the LittaTrap™ is that it is lightweight enough that the children can lift the insert out of the storm drain and tip the caught material directly into a bucket for counting.

Sarah Neighbours from the Marine Centre said about the litter collection,' In the first week alone we got 195 cigarette butts just from the drain outside the pub. That was a shock to us all. So far the whole thing has been a real eye opener. To date, we have collected 653 pieces of litter from the two drains with 373 of them being cigarette butts!'

If you want to know more about the LittaTrap™ and how this innovative Gross Pollutant Trap can assist with stopping rubbish from reaching the waterways please contact: [email protected]