Beautiful sunshine, a diverse community, lots of laughter and the good feeling about having accomplished good deeds – the Auckland Inter-Faith Council organised a successful creek clean-up.

All our Faiths share a deep concern for the environment, and particularly for clean waters.
A few years ago, the Auckland Inter-Faith Council (AIFC) held an event on the Environment where speakers of different religions spoke from their respective faith traditions – and it was great to hear them referring in loving terms to our Mother Earth and agreeing that it was our responsibility to care for the environment given that we were all connected. At the end of that event, one of the hosts in the Islamic Centre suggested taking on a project of cleaning up areas in Auckland. 

A couple of years later, our Jewish member on the AIFC told us about the custom of Tashlich when little stones or pieces of bread are thrown into a river or the sea. This was symbolising the throwing of sins into a living water. One of their rabbis once commented that there were already enough sins in the water ways and it would be time to take them out!
This new thought sparked the idea of “Reverse Tashlich”, a world-wide Jewish initiative to clean polluted waterways.

On Sunday, 23 February 2025, the AIFC in cooperation with Repair the Sea – Tikkun HaYam and Auckland Council organised the first substantial Interfaith Creek Cleanup.
About 70 people of different age groups and religions or faiths came together to clear an area at Riverlea Reserve, Whenuapai, Auckland.

Everybody was amazed what was pulled out of the water: tyres, engines, metals, cans and bottles and plenty of plastic. The access to the worst debris was quite steep, so ropes had to be used, and human chains were set up to pass on the rubbish until it was deposited in huge rubbish bags.
The younger participants cleared the bush right next to the pathways and filled bag after bag with rubbish.

Some of the work was certainly not pleasant, but with the gloves provided by Auckland Council, a substantial area was cleaned up.
Congratulations to Auckland Council – most of the gloves will be washed and disinfected for the next volunteers who will contribute to a cleaner environment.

While it was sad to see how negligent some people are with their rubbish, the participants of the event really put their faith into action and together in faith, they have made the Riverlea Reserve a cleaner area.

BM