A romantic spark over a discarded drink bottle, or will it be some flirtatious conversation over a dropped pie wrapper?

Taupō residents who care for their surroundings are being encouraged to join a lakefront clean-up project, with the added drawcard of possibly finding a match, or just a new friend

Taupō District Council environmental ranger Shannon Hanson runs regular public clean-up events and said part of the idea behind 'Looking for Love and Litter' is to draw attention to the importance of caring for the place they live in.

She said the event for the "attached and unattached" will help look after the place they all love and meet new people who also care about the environment at the same time.

“We’ll hopefully pull in an audience we don’t normally see a lot of at litter pick-ups - teens and people in their 20s.

"I’m hoping this event will encourage that age range to see that volunteering makes you feel good and connects you with your community.

“And if people also have the opportunity to meet a new friend or maybe someone they’d like to know better, that would be an added benefit too,” Hanson said.

To make it easy to see who’s there for more than just the environmental benefits attendees have the option of dressing in traffic light colours to indicate their status.

So, if you’re single – wear green. If you’re already happily attached – wear red. If it’s complicated or you just threw on the first thing that came to hand – wear whatever you want, she said.

After the two-hour clean up, there will be an optional mix and mingle at the Pub’n Grub to meet other litter picker-uppers.

Taupō is expected to still be in red under the Covid-19 traffic light framework so vaccine passes will be required.

The ‘Looking for Love and Litter’ clean-up event on the main lakefront opposite Taupō Mini Golf on Sunday, February 20 from 10am to 12pm.

Credit: Stuff.co.nz