Kailua Beach Clean-Up for the International Coastal Clean-Up Redux

The Clean-Up on Sept. 25th was an excellent success! Throughout the morning, 27 volunteers, plus a handful of cute keiki, put on gloves and went off with their buckets, bags, and screens. We collected litter from the beach parks and plastic pollution from the coastline between Kailua Beach Park and Kalama Beach Park.

 

Details compiled from our volunteers' trash tally sheets are below. We collected 90 POUNDS in 2 hours! All the data from this international event will be posted on the Ocean Conservancy website in the following months.

8 Paper bags                                            69 Cups, plates or cutlery

36 Plastic bags                                         165 Food wrappers

27 Balloons                                              33 Pull tabs

15 Plastic beverage bottles                        1 6-pack holder 

12 Glass bottles                                        68 Straws

22 Beverage cans                                     14 Toys

161 Caps or lids                                       22 Items of clothing, shoes 

15 Pieces of Styrofoam                           1000 Bits of micro-debris

200 Fishing line, net, or rope segments      5 Oil or bleach containers

40 Floats and lures                                   13 Pieces of plastic sheeting

1700 Cigarette butts                                 2 Batteries

 4 Cigarette lighters                                  2 Diapers

 9 Cigar tips                                             1 Syringe, 18 band-aids

38 Tobacco wrappers                                6 toothbrushes

Volunteers noted the massive amount of litter within the parks. We will be working to create more places to dispose of cigarette butts as well as to add recycling bins. There is always more to be cleaned up in these high traffic areas, so we encourage you to pick up a bag of trash every time you visit!

 

The event was followed by a low-impact potluck.

 

We extend a giant thank you and mahalo to all the participants who came out to support the efforts, those who donated buckets and supplies, and those who made some goodies to share. The Hawaii ZTA Alumnae Chapter made this their September event and drew ladies from around the island to help. Additionally, Huakailani School supplied us with the coolers for the day.

Tentatively, our next Clean-Up is scheduled for December. We are accepting ideas if you know of a Windward beach location or stream that is need of a clean-up crew.

PFK's next general meeting will be a screening of "Tapped" at 7pm on Oct. 14th. Details to follow soon! 

More photos are up on our FB page.

Kick-off a Success, Beach Clean-up this Saturday!

Meeting Minutes
We hosted 20 amazing attendees on Thursday night at Saeng's Thai. We toasted to this new social venture with some frosty Tsingtau's and delicious spring rolls. These concerned citizens will be the new ambassadors of the plastic free movement in Kailua. I can't thank them enough for showing up!

Rachel shared the vision and planning goals of PFK. Alani told of the inspiring purpose and mission of Kanu Hawaii. Finally, Natalie spoke about the success of the Plastic Free Haleiwa Coalition and how we can bring it to Kailua.

Upcoming Business:
* A planning team is forming. Email us if you want to be included and missed the meet-up.
* The ICC beach clean-up is next Saturday the 25th. Planning details below. RSVP
* The next general meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14th. We will be screening the documentary "Tapped" on the bottled water industry. Details to follow. Tentatively, meetings will be the 2nd Thursday of each month, beach clean-ups quarterly.


Until next time: 
* Email in any photos from the meeting and we'll post them on our FB page.
* Register at the tab above to grow our contact database.
* Register your plastic free commitments at kanuhawaii.org and join the group page, so we can start tracking our collective impact.
* Continue to educate yourself about the value of going plastic free.
* Join and participate in our social media pages.
* Help us spread the word.
* Reduce *Reuse *BringURown 

Beach Clean-up Update
We will meet at the park for check-in starting after 8:30am-9:00am. Attendees should come armed with sunscreen, water bottles, a buddy, and a smile. If you have an old clipboard, 5 gallon bucket, collander, work gloves, or anything else that might assist bring that too. We will supply some nitrile gloves, trash bags, and tally sheets.

We will divide the beach park into 4-5 zones and conquer. You can volunteer to be a zone captain. We'd like to have a small Team Kalama that moves from Kalama Park to Kailua Park. Email us if you want to join or organize that team and we'll talk logistics.

The day will culminate with a relaxing, low-impact potluck lunch at 11. Bring something to share and some reusable utensils/plates. We will supply coolers and watch your belongings at the check-in station during the clean-up. This should be a day of family and community fun! Remember to RSVP.


***
Comment below with any questions or email us.
An email will go out to the planning team respondents shortly.

Thanks again to everyone for their willingness and support. This fall will be a time for us to plan and grow as we move toward a hard launch in January 2011. Slow and steady wins the race.

Sept. 25th The International Coastal Clean-up comes to Kailua Beach

We're planning to join the world's largest beach clean-up effort on the morning of Saturday, September 25th, the International Coastal Clean-up forwarded by the Ocean Conservancy.

Kailua Beach Clean-Up

*PLEASE check back for updates*

Saturday, Sept. 25th

8:30am check-in

11:00am: Join us for the trash weigh and tally 
and a low-impact potluck lunch

Kailua Beach Park, 450 Kawailoa Road

Meet near Main Parking Lot, East of Buzz’s

What to bring:

sunscreen, hat

work gloves

water bottles

a great attitude

low-impact lunch box or food to share, that means reusable plates/utensils too

family and friends

Also needed: (Can you help? Email us)
colanders or hand screens

5 gal. buckets

trash bags

pencils

extra gloves, canvas or latex/nitrile

large scale for weighing
large coolers
volunteers to man zones and stations

Please RSVP here: http://tiny.cc/BeachRSVP  or register as a volunteer.

Be part of something HUGE!

During the 2009 International Coastal Cleanup, 498,818 volunteers picked up 7.4 million pounds of marine debris, in 108 countries and locations around the world and 45 US states. Millions of debris items, ranging from cigarette butts to 55-gallon drums and household appliances, contribute to the deterioration of ocean ecosystems and harm humans, wildlife, and coastal economies.

In 2009, 60 percent of the debris collected and cataloged consisted of single-use, disposable items. Volunteers picked up 1.1 million plastic bags. And enough cups, plates, knives, forks, and spoons for a picnic for 100,000 people.

Because trash travels, we are all part of the problem—and the solution—whether we live hundreds of miles inland or along the ocean’s shores. The data collected from the International Coastal Cleanup help provide a road map for eliminating marine debris by demonstrating the scope and scale of the problem and documenting trends (from OC website).

Plastic Free Kailua Kick-Off Meeting & Windward Kanu Hawaii Pau Hana

I am excited to announce a special, joint event,
and YOU are cordially invited to attend.

Thursday, Sept. 16th
Seang’s Thai Restaurant in Kailua
Drop in: 6 - 9pm
Informational meeting: 7pm

First, this pau hana will serve as a local event for Windward-side Kanu Hawaii supporters to meet and greet, network, and foster support for each other in our commitments. Second, and more importantly, this is the kick-off meeting for the new Plastic Free Kailua coalition.

You can hop on over after the farmer’s market for pupus and great company. At 7pm we will hold a brief meeting discussing the goals and planning milestones of this new venture. We are seeking both committed team members, willing local businesses, and general supporters to move forward.

We also want to promote upcoming Kailua events such as a beach clean-up planned for Saturday, Sept. 25th. Details TBA soon.

Please RSVP here: http://tiny.cc/KickOffRSVP or register as a volunteer.