Volunteer cleaning crews armed with bright green bags have cleaned loads of rubbish from Tauranga Harbour's shoreline.
Organiser Kiri Danielle said the event was the third of a series being run around the country by her initiative Clean New Zealand - part of a wider effort called Clean the Earth.
"It's been coming for five or six years. My aim is to take trash from the communities around the globe and use it to help inspire people to love Mother Nature and reconnect with her, and to love themselves and each other."
A group called Kiwi Daddies also came on board to help with the clean up.
Ms Danielle said anything gathered from the clean-up that could be recycled would be, and anything that could not be recycled would be disposed of thoughtfully.
Ms Danielle was organising another event for the weekend after next called a "trash dash", where people will arrive at Mount Maunganui beach and go on a trash treasure hunt - finding and picking up pieces of rubbish she had already photographed and mapped out on her phone.
She hoped businesses would donate prizes for the event.
Kiwi Daddies Tauranga leader Chris Sio said the support group for dads aimed to get into the community and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.
The fledgling group has about 300 members in Tauranga and many turned up at Waikareao Estuary to help with yesterday's event.