Braving polluted water to protect the Avon River

Peter England regularly jumps into polluted water to clean up a rubbish-filled Christchurch river.

The 47-year-old Richmond resident has been donning his wetsuit and snorkelling in the Avon River as part of an initiative he has started called River Conservation NZ.

He pulls many unwanted items - including everything from rubbish to stolen goods - out of the river.

England has a passion for conservation and says it's all about keeping the place tidy.

"My long-term goal would be I'd love to see this particular start of this area turn into a clean area where there is, I don't know, park benches and playgrounds and stuff next to the river and the river cleaned up so kids can jump in the river and swim."

But he warns this goal will not be reached if waterways continue to be polluted.

England sorts out the items he finds, refurbishing or selling some of them or donating them to the Richmond Community Garden to be recycled or collected by the city council.

He finds all kinds of discarded plastics in the river - including a range of unusual items.

"There's a lot of road cones that get biffed in, just a heap of stuff from electronic equipment, computers, PlayStations, a lot of stolen eftpos cards, yeah, all sorts."

In some cases, he works with police to return stolen items or investigate them further.

England's been doing his river dives for more than a year and encourages others to volunteer their time or contact him when they see rubbish dumped somewhere.

- By Emily O'Hagan, made with the support of NZ On Air