Charlie and Quincy Carpenter explain how to use mPark instead of dispensing a plastic coated ticket.
It's cute, it's straight forward, and it's tackling a serious issue.
Whangārei brothers Charlie and Quincy Carpenter, who live on Matakohe Limestone Island, have created a video explaining how to use parking app mPark.
The video comes after the brothers raised concerns with Whangārei District Council about plastic parkingtickets, dispensed from parking machines, ending up in Whangārei Harbour, with many washing up on their island home.
The council roading department investigated, before recommending the solution was for residents to use mPark which doesn't use tickets at all.
The video starts with the boys introducing themselves and explaining that plastic doesn't belong in the ocean.
"But luckily there is something you can do about it," Quincy tells the camera.
The brothers then take their kart, park it in a drawn-up carpark and take viewers step by step through the mPark process. The video is shot on the island and uses the old manager's house.
The video was shot in the old manager's house on Matakohe Limestone Island. Photo / Supplied
The video had been viewed nearly 10,000 times since it went up on the Matakohe Limestone Island Facebook page.
The brothers' mum, Matakohe Limestone Island ranger Emma Craig, said it had reached 24,000 people and they had received plenty of positive feedback.
"The feedback that the boys have really appreciated have been the people saying 'I didn't know that existed' or 'I didn't know it was that easy, now I'm going to use mPark'."
She said the boys felt like their message has been taken on board.
Craig said a few people have stopped the boys in Whangārei and told them they had seen the video and asked if they could show them how to use it on their phone.
"We hope that more of you will use mPark after this video and that no more plastic goes in the ocean," Charlie said at the end of the video.
The brothers have collected 50 plastic coated tickets which have come from a variety of ticket dispensers around the city and date back to 2013.
Charlie and Quincy Carpenter with the 18 tickets they took to the council in March. Photo / John Stone
The tickets are a polycoated paper ticket, introduced 10 years ago because paper tickets on dashboards used to fade and could not be read.
Other councils have raised similar concerns with the manufacturers who are looking at non-plastic alternatives, although future systems may do away with tickets altogether.
