Lollipop sticks, car tyres and needles were just a few of the things fished out of Christchurch waterways over the weekend.
Local residents, politicians and children rubbed shoulders in a mammoth effort to clean up the water environment.
One volunteer, Anne Kennedy, said there was more rubbish than they had time for.
"You could just about build a new car (from what we've picked up)," she said.