Hoʻomalu Ke Kai's Talk Story Times Volume I | Issue II |
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Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou from Hoʻomalu Ke Kai! Happy New Year from Hoʻomalu Ke Kai! In our second issue of the Talk Story Times we will take a look at our first year of operation as an organization. How much and what kind of debris did we collect from Kauaʻi's coastline this year? How much ocean and consumer plastic have we been able to divert into upcycled materials with Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi in the Hoʻoponopono Plastic Program? How many people contributed to the process? And what are we up to next? It's all below - mahalo nui loa for checking out our last Talk Story Times of 2021! |
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Featured Article THE HOʻOPONOPONO PLASTIC PROGRAM |
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In our first issue of the Talk Story Times we dove deep into the plastic issues Kauaʻi and the world, as a whole, are facing and offered a few alternatives to the way we currently deal with those issues. Although there may not be one sure way to combat the plastic problem, we believe working toward creative solutions with each other, as a community, can truly inspire change individually and, eventually, globally. The creative approach we're taking with Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi is called the Hoʻoponopono Plastic Program, which essentially means to make things right (pono) with plastic. The idea is that if we can create a more circular process around the plastic that already exists, we can decrease reliance on new (virgin) plastics being made in the economy. The model for this program is being implemented elsewhere throughout the Precious Plastic global community. It started with trying to find a place for our ocean plastics collected from cleanups and has now developed into collecting plastic from the community and local businesses to assist with the diversion of, otherwise, ocean-bound plastics. |
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Volunteers from Hoʻomalu Ke Kai, Makana & Charlene, assist Director of Creative Initiatives, Mike Raithaus and Jr. Board of Director, Mattea Topp in sorting through micro-plastics collected from Nukoliʻi Beach on December 11, 2021. |
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Director of Sustainability, Paul Baker, featured in a recent article about the Hoʻoponopono Plastic Program and its fundraiser for plastic washing and processing machinery in The Garden Island Newspaper. December 27, 2021. |
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The Hoʻoponopono Plastic Program was recently featured in The Garden Island Newspaper. The article introduced the program to the community and asked for funding to help establish a washing and processing system with machinery to increase our plastic intake capabilities. The plastic washing machine will significantly increase Hoʻomalu Ke Kai's capacity to clean and process more plastic from local businesses, the community, and other ocean conservation organizations picking up ocean plastics to be able to upcycle it with Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi. |
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Design concept for Plastic Washing Machine through Precious Plastic Open Source Online Community. |
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Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi machinery for upcycling plastics: The Shredder and Extruder Pro Models. |
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We are so very happy to report that we exceeded our initial fundraising goal of $1,500 and are now working on developing an even larger processing system with the extra donations received in support of this program's growth! We honestly were not expecting the overwhelmingly kind and generous feedback we've received from the community and those that believe in creating more solutions to our plastic waste thus far! Sincere thank you to all of those who have contributed to the change they wish to see with plastic waste on Kauaʻi! We expect to get started with the new year and will be sure to keep you up to date on the progress of our machine build and finished product in action! If you are interested in the program as a business that would like us to collect your plastic, a volunteer who'd like to get involved, or if you would like to donate to the Hoʻoponopono Plastic Program, check out our new webpage and fill out a contact form; and tax-deductible donations are available via the Paypal donate link on our website. Mahalo nui loa for all of the support! |
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Upcycled flower pot made out of Kauaʻi ocean and consumer plastic from Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi. |
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First upcycled table made from Kauaʻi ocean and consumer plastics from Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi. |
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Looking back on our first year of operation we are so humbled with how far we've come and how much support we've received in so little time. Although a new organization, with the combined experience of Hoʻomalu Ke Kai's directors, and the incredible support from volunteers in the community, we were ready to hit the ground running for positive change! Check out what were able to accomplish together! |
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| | Total pounds of marine debris removed from Kauaʻi's shoreline. |
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| | Breakdown of types of marine debris found. |
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| | Percentage of plastic collected from shoreline cleanups diverted from the landfill to be upcycled. |
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| | Total number of cleanups and events. |
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| | Total pounds of plastic diverted from local businesses via the Ho'oponopono Plastic Program. |
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| | Number of volunteers and amount of hours volunteered to make it happen. |
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INTERTIDAL SURVEY PROJECT |
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Ready to get hands-on with the scientific process? We'd love to hear from you! Low spring tides are coming up March 2022 making it the perfect time to collect data on the intertidal zones around Kauaʻi! Our team will be conducting training surveys (for us and anyone else that would like to get involved) throughout the month of February. This program is in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi program, O.P.I.H.I. (Our Projects in Hawaiʻi's Intertidal) and is an excellent citizen science program to get involved with at any level of education. The collective data throughout the Main Hawaiian Islands and Northwestern Atolls is pooled into analyzation by O.P.I.H.I. on their website and is open to the public. |
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| | Coastal Cleanup Saturday, January 15; 10am-12pm Join us for our next Coastline Cleanup. Register by reaching out below and we'll keep you in the loop on the location as the date gets closer. | | |
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| | Lihue Plastic Collection Event Saturday, January 15th; 4pm-8pm This is a great chance to drop off your clean and delabled plastic to Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi. You can also check out the cool products that they are starting to make out of upcycled Kauaʻi ocean and consumer plastics. With local vendors, food, and music, this is an awesome monthly event for the community! | | |
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| | Koloa Plastic Collection Event Saturday, January 22nd; 4pm-8pm This is a great chance to drop off your clean and delabled plastic to Plastic Paradise Kauaʻi. You can also check out the cool products that they are starting to make out of upcycled Kauaʻi ocean and consumer plastics. With local vendors, food, and music, this is an awesome monthly event for the community! | | |
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| | Coastal Cleanup Saturday, February 5th; 10am-12pm Join us for our next Coastline Cleanup. Register by reaching out below and we'll keep you in the loop on the location as the date gets closer. | | |
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Mālama i ke kai, a mālama ke kai ia ʻoe!Care for the ocean, and the ocean will care for you! |
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Keep up with Hoʻomalu Ke Kai on Social Media |
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