Kokua Hawaii Foundation
The Kokua Hawaii Foundation supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaii with interactive experiences that will enhance the appreciation for our environment. Jack Johnson will be performing on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island to benefit Kokua Hawaii Foundation.
Plastic Free Facts
- Styrene can leach from polystyrene plastic and is toxic to the brain and nervous system.
- DEHA is one of several plastics used in food containers to which people have daily exposure through food, water, air, and consumer products. DEHA can leach into oily foods on contact and when heated. Exposure is linked to negative effects on the liver, kidney, spleen, bone formation, and body weight.
- Bisphenol A (BPA), used in food can liners, ‘sippy’ cups, clear plastic cutlery etc. is a chemical that mimics the action of the human hormone estrogen, can leach from polycarbonate plastic.
- Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade – breaking down into small toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food chain when mistaken for zooplankton or jellyfish.
- In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles every year.
- Worldwide, the United Nations Environment Program has calculated there are 13,000 pieces of plastic litter per square kilometer of the world’s oceans.
- Disposable bags cost our cities up to 17 cents per bag for disposal.
- The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
- The world uses over 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages about 300 bags for each adult on the planet. That comes out to over one million bags being used per minute.
- A reusable bag can eliminate hundreds to thousands of disposable bags over its lifetime.
- Although most people are aware that paper bags are recyclable, only about 20% of them are actually recycled.
- The saying goes, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” First, we should reduce our usage, second we should reuse materials for as long as possible and only then, third, should we recycle them.
- The goal is to minimize, and eventually eliminate, the use of single-use plastic such as plastic bags, food take-out containers (including styrofoam), plastic utensils, and bottled water.
Kauai Recycling and Televisions
Kauai has begun an annual electronic recycling drive for all types of electronic equipment. Items accepted include: Computers, Hubs, Keyboards, Laptops, Typewriters, Stereos, Cameras, TV’s, Fax Machines, CD-ROM drives, Telephones, VCR players, Speakers, Radios, Copiers, Cell phones, DVD drives, Backup batteries, DVD players, Camcorders, GPS systems, Monitors, Scanners, Stereo components, Printers, Plasma Screens, Electrical gaming units, Overhead projectors.
During the year, televisions from institutional sources are not accepted at the landfill because the components of the monitors CRTs and LCDs exhibit characteristics of hazardous waste that exceed the limits for landfills. Call 241-4837 for information on recycling TVs & monitors generated from businesses. Also, E Recycling Kauai is now offering year round Electronic Recycling to residents and businesses including door to door pick up for a fee. For more information, see their website erecyclingkauai.com, or call 651-2544.
Free Annual Electronic Waste Recycling Event
Vidinha Stadium Parking Lot
Friday, October 21 from 8 am to 5 pm for Businesses & Institutions
Saturday, October 22 from 8 am to 5 pm for Residents
For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
Green Hawaii Youth Conference 2011
The Green Hawaii Youth Conference will take place Tuesday thru Thursday, June 28 thru 30th from 9:00 to 12 noon. The goal is to discuss ways to involve more Kauai youth in sustainable activities on the island of Kauai. Organizations are invited to attend to discuss activities, programs and services. At the conference you will have the chance to share ideas and garner interest in your programs and services, and explore ways to collaborate with similar organizations to better support your current activities. Local experts in sustainability will help facilitate discussions in the areas of food and agriculture, renewable energy, and recycling, reusing, and reducing initiatives.
Introduced at the conference will be the Humanitarian Sustainability Initiative, a world-wide web initiative that follows and supports sustainable initiatives around the globe with expertise and funding. Recently a group of students from a Canadian school hosted a web conference on indigenous climate change with participants from Canada, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, Hawaii, Alaska, and Australia, and in early June, they hosted a sustainability career fair in their local community. Later this year, this school team will deploy to Haiti solar ovens and solar lanterns created by their students. We will discuss efforts like this and ways Hawaii organizations and youth can participate in remote teams and tap into local, national and international resources.
People and programs servicing Hawaii’s youth and families, education, sports, faith communities, healthcare and health industry, professionals, agriculture and farming, recycling, sanitation, interests in the quality and care of the ocean, and renewable energies are all welcome to attend. Given the interest to bring Kauai closer to 100% self-sustainability and the need for many of our Kauai programs and services to secure ongoing funding, spending a few hours at the Green Hawaii Youth Conference offers a creative and collaborative approach to address both.
Kauai Recycling And Galapagos Lessons
The Galapagos Islands have experienced an increase of residents and visitors over the past few years, which has created a variety of environmental concerns including an unprecedented amount of waste. How do you handle all the waste when you live on a small island? Their efforts included helping develop a more sustainable waste management system, along with a recycling outreach campaign. Now, after just over 3 years of recycling, there are some things that the system could teach the U.S.
They have better recycling rates than the U.S. after less time.
The island currently recycles 35 to 50 percent of it’s waste, which is as good, or better, in many cases, than most U.S. municipal systems after just three years, versus three decades in the U.S.
Composting makes waste management way easier.
They’ve added yard waste and food scrap composting, which makes so much sense on a small island. Santa Cruz produces about 12 tons of waste per day (pretty small compared to any developed city) but still, all that waste has to go somewhere. With organic waste being about 50 percent of those 12 tons, there’s definitely no shortage of compostable material, so the installation of the industrial compost system has a hugely positive impact on the island’s waste stream.
Encouraging reuse with a bottle deposit really works.
The Galapagos has a deposit of $1 on all beer and soda glass bottles. That’s six bucks extra for every six pack, and even for the casual beer or soda enthusiast, that would add up quickly unless you were hanging on to your bottles to return for the deposit. It’s working great on the island; the return rate is well over 90 percent, and the bottle deposit program is really in it’s infancy.
These new efforts remain a work in progress, and more conscientious waste reduction is an obvious first step to slowing down the waste stream. The current system is a huge step up, but ultimately, they’ll need to continue finding ways to simply require fewer and less wasteful goods for both residents and tourists alike.
Kauai Recycling and Green Waste
Green waste is biodegradable waste such as grass trimmings, flower cuttings, hedge trimmings, shrubbery, stumps, branches, and christmas trees. Kauai green waste collected through the County recycling program is shredded into a mulch product that can be used as a ground cover or as a carbon base for composting.
Green waste can be recycled at the following locations:
- Hanalei Transfer Station
- Lihu’e Transfer Station
- Kapa’a Transfer Station
- Hanapepe Transfer Station
- Kekaha Landfill
Materials Accepted:
- Lawn Trimmings
- Tree Trimmings (stumps, branches, leaves)
- Shrubbery
- Christmas Trees
Only source separated green waste is accepted, all other non-plant materials not listed as acceptable material is contamination. To prevent contamination, green waste should be separated from all other types of waste material prior to delivery. Logs and stumps 8 inches or more in diameter should be cut to lengths of 8 feet or less. When delivering green waste be sure to remove all ropes, canvas, film, plastic, and tie-downs used to secure green waste in your vehicle. For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
Kauai Plastic Bag Ban Begins
The plastic bag ban begins on Maui and Kauai, with businesses providing environmentally friendly alternatives and shoppers expected to bring reusable bags with them to checkout counters. The goal of this bill is to become more environmentally friendly by reducing the amount litter, reducing the burden on landfills, and reducing threats to marine life.
On Kauai, all commercial businesses, restaurants, and takeout food establishments, will need to supply recyclable paper bags or biodegradable bags. Businesses that fail to comply face a $250 per day fine for the first notice, $500 a day for the second notice, and $1,000 a day for the third.
Environmental groups were consulted in developing the bill, which advised not to permit cornstarch-based biodegradable plastic bags because fossil fuels are required for their production. Retailers may provide customers with recyclable paper bags that contain no old growth fiber, are 100 percent recyclable, contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and display the words “reusable” and “recyclable” in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bag. The intent of the new law is to encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags when shopping.
