Educating Keiki On Recycling Earns Foundation An EPA Nod

In addition to tending crops and recycling drives via Kokua Hawaii Foundation programs, area schoolchildren were introduced to these wiggly creatures that help in composting. Photo from Natalie McKinney.

By PAIGE TAKEYA

For some people, a lifestyle change can start with swapping a plastic bag for a reusable one. Kim Johnson and the Kahuku-based Kokua Hawaii Foundation (KHF) truly believe it.

“Some people, they start with the bag, then they start carrying around the reusable water bottle and it just becomes habit,” Johnson said. “Then you start seeing, ‘Oh wow, I don’t need to take a straw because that’s disposable; I only use it once,’ or you start thinking about where plastics come in in other areas of your life.”

Johnson and husband musician Jack Johnson founded KHF 10 years ago to establish environmental education programs in schools and the community. What started with a recycling program has expanded to include multiple projects involving thousands of students around the state.

And those outreach efforts have earned the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region, which named KHF one of its eight 2013 Environmental Champions.

“The exciting thing for us is to know that environmental education is making its way to be seen on the national level, which is so important for the movement, especially for the farm-to-school and school garden movement that we’re really involved in here in Hawaii,” Kim Johnson said.

Current KHF projects include Aina In Schools, a farm-to-school focus on everything from nutrition to salad bars; 3R’s School Recycling, promoting waste reduction in 50 schools; and KHF Field Trip Grants and Mini-Grants, which support small, teacher-driven projects.

“It’s really amazing to see in the last 10 years, the consciousness has changed. More and more teachers … are taking on these environmental issues, and a more sustainable lifestyle is becoming more mainstream,” Johnson said.

KHF’s newest effort is Plastic Free Hawaii, helping to reduce Hawaii’s plastic consumption by distributing reusable bags and getting the message out at farmers markets and other sites. Johnson said they are pushing the campaign hard in light of the upcoming July 1, 2015, ban on plastic bags on Oahu. “I think (what we do) really shows people the ‘why’ behind trying to curb our dependence on single-use plastics.”

Also new is the Hawaii School Bottle Cap Collection Challenge, which recycles caps that are normally thrown away during plastic bottle recycling. The contest runs until March 31 and is open to all Hawaii schools. Interested groups should visit kokuahawaiifoundation.org/bottlecapchallenge for more information.

KHF welcomes contributions, and Aina In Schools, in particular, relies on volunteers to both teach lessons and help prep campus gardens for students.

Upcoming recycling drives are set for March 8 at Kaelepulu Elementary and March 22 at Mililani Waena Elementary. The next beach cleanup is March 22.

For details, visit kokuahawaiifoundation.org or email info@kokuahawaiii.org.