2025 Alumni Charity Update: Sustainable Coastlines

Our partner charity, Sustainable Coastlines, has had a huge year of clean-ups, campaigns, and community action. From penguins donating cash to nurdles hitting headlines, their mahi is protecting our oceans in creative and inspiring ways.

Over the past year, Sustainable Coastlines has made a powerful impact on Aotearoa New Zealand’s coastlines. Through community-led clean-ups, education, and advocacy, the team and its supporters have worked tirelessly to protect marine ecosystems and inspire change. 

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, the organisation removed 63,500 litres of litter from the coastline. This was made possible by 5,625 participants who contributed 11,680 volunteer hours across 51 beach clean-ups and 416 Litter Intelligence surveys. 

Beyond the numbers, the year was also filled with memorable milestones and moments of celebration. 

In May 2024, a light-hearted story captured national attention when RNZ published the headline: “Little blue penguin donates to charity”. Kororā utilise all sorts of materials when it comes to building their nests, such as the $20 bill found in a Napier Port kororā nesting box. The ports team decided, "after a lengthy discussion with the penguins”, that the money was best donated to Sustainable Coastlines to help prevent other (arguably less desirable) plastic waste from ending up in nesting boxes in the future. 

July brought the Double Your Donation campaign, where partners APL, Lion, and Phoenix Organics matched public donations, raising $14,040 and helped expand the organisation’s reach and impact. 

October saw the launch of the Trash Species of Aotearoa New Zealand campaign, featuring a series of posters that cleverly reimagined native wildlife to highlight the issue of marine pollution. The campaign sparked conversations nationwide and raised funds through poster sales in the online shop. 

As 2024 came to a close, Sustainable Coastlines welcomed tennis pro Lulu Sun as an ambassador. Like the SC team, she is passionate about the ocean and keen to drive change by sharing ocean conservation messages far and wide. 

In March 2025, during Seaweek, the team hosted its largest clean-up of the year: the Hirepool Big Clean. More than 300 volunteers gathered at Onehunga Foreshore, removing 8,950 litres of rubbish (weighing 880kg) to help protect the endangered Māui dolphin that once called the Manulau Harbour home. 

In June, a clean-up on Motuihe Island uncovered a disturbing number of nurdles (pre-production plastic resin pellets) on the island’s north coast. The discovery led to national media coverage, including a New Zealand Herald article, a video feature, and a live interview with co-founder Sam Judd, raising awareness about the nurdle problem affecting beaches across Aotearoa. 

In the past year, Sustainable Coastlines has leveraged media opportunities, the support of businesses across Aotearoa New Zealand, and clever campaigns to continue its work bringing people together to protect the oceans they love. Building on its existing mahi, Sustainable Coastlines intends to focus on school education and construction waste in the coming year, achieving an even greater impact for our beautiful beaches.

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‍Words and image supplied by Sustainable Coastlines.

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As a One Percent Collective alumni charity, we now post just one Sustainable Coastlines update per year. If you'd like more frequent updates from Sustainable Coastlines, join their newsletter list here.

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