What items are eligible? Drink pouches, chip bags, cookie and candy wrappers, gum wrappers and packaging, pens and markers, tape dispensers, glue containers.

Upcycling in action: To encourage upcycling, the Kalihi Valley nonprofit KAUPA held a fundraising contest during Spring Semester 2010 at Kalihi Waena Elementary School. Ms. Honold’s 4th-grade class collected the most items for upcycling, and donated the proceeds to KAUPA’s nonprofit efforts. In return, the kids were rewarded with a Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Party!

Another contest will be held during the Fall Semester, so get your family, school, work, church, sports, or neighborhood together and start gathering those items we usually throw away. For more information, email kaupa4kalihi@hawaii.rr.com, or call Barbara Natale at (808) 381-3643.

Mahalo for helping to divert waste from the landfill, and making Oʻahu an even more beautiful place . . .

The response has been tremendous: One teacher says that by learning what helps and harms our earth, the students are now applying this knowledge to their everyday life. Another teacher applauds the curriculum for featuring hands-on activities, providing for learning styles that differ from the traditional lecture approach. The elementary school principal notes that not only are students learning about native Hawaiian land and stream use, they’re building relationships with each other and applying theory to a real-life setting.

If you want to learn more about the Kalihi Ahupuaʻa curriculum, please contact Dana Guilizia, KAUPA’s Education Coordinator at (808) 489-0884 or gulizia@hawaii.edu.

The goal is to visually represent the cultural, environmental, social, and political issues and stories of the community. Local artists Meleanna Meyer, Prime of 808 Urban, Solomon Enos, and Kahi Ching will be assisting on the first mural of many along the stream. The rough vision to depict the area from mountain to sea, with native flora, fauna, and local people. To add your input to the vision, click here to take KAUPA’s quick online survey (and receive a free KAUPA reusable bag!).

To be selected as a Kalihi mural artist, you must be 16-30 years old, with a serious interest in art, developing your talent, and transforming this public space. Submit a 1-page essay (handwritten or typed) about your thoughts and feelings about Kalihi and Kalihi stream. At the top of the page, include your name, age, address, and phone number.

Submit your essay by email to kaupa2create@yahoo.com, or postal mail to:

Public Art Kalihi
PO Box 17673
Honolulu, HI 96817

Selected artists will be notified by July 16, 2010, and required to attend workshops on July 17, 24, and 31. Mural painting will begin the first week of August!

Every 2nd Saturday, volunteers with KAUPA (Kalihi Ahupuaʻa Ulu Pono Ahahui) splash through the stream in their boots, clearing the waters and restoring the streambank with native plantings. Since 2007, volunteers have donated 8,000 hours, removing almost 10,000 lbs (5 tons) of garbage and 8,000 lbs of metals, while planting over 400 native plants. It’s mind-boggling to think all this debris could have washed down into Keʻehi Lagoon, through Honolulu Harbor, and out into the ocean!

If you’d like to join KAUPA’s efforts, contact Chana Dudoit at dudoitc@gmail.com or (808) 282-9449. For more info, click here to visit the KAUPA website.

Next cleanup:
July 10
8:30am-11:30am
Meet at Kalihi Waena Elementary School, 1240 Gulick Avenue.
Wear closed-toe shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.
KAUPA provides gloves, boots, bags, tools, and light refreshments.

Upcoming in August:
Volunteers will help build three traditional Hawaiian dry-stack walls along the streambank, to reduce erosion and provide terracing for more plantings. KAUPA is honored to have master stone mason, Billy Fields, to share how to build these kipapa-style walls.

Click logo for national Earth Day website

Hawaiʻi is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with an Earth weekend full of events. Here’s a sampling:

April 22   OʻAHU
Sustainability Festival
University of Hawaiʻi Manoa Campus, Oʻahu
UHMearthday@gmail.com

April 22  KAUAʻI
Earth Day 2010
Kauaʻi Community College, Kauaʻi
bain@hawaii.edu

April 23 & 24   OʻAHU
Jack Johnson’s Kokua Festival
Honolulu, Oʻahu

April 24  HAWAIʻI ISLAND (BIG ISLAND)
Earth Day Fair at Keauhou
Keauhou Beach Resort, Hawaiʻi Island (Big Island)

April 24  OʻAHU
Ka Mole o Na Pua Festival
Leeward Community College, Oʻahu
aulii@hawaii.edu

April 23-25  MAUI
Earth Day Service Trip in Haleakala Crater
Haleakala, Maui

Monk Seals at Koki Beach, Maui

On April 17, all over the Hawaiian Islands, volunteers will be counting monk seals—and they could use your help!

The semi-annual count, coordinated by NOAA Fisheries, only happens 2 times a year. All islands participate on the same day at the exact same time to get a snapshot of monk seal numbers in Hawaiʻi and their locations.

What:  7th Semi-annual Main Hawaiian Islands Monk Seal Count
When:  Saturday, April 17th, 10AM – 1PM
Who:  Any interested volunteers must attend a pre-count meeting—meetings are scheduled on each island this week and next—contact your island’s coordinator to RSVP:

Oʻahu—www.hmsrto.org
Maui and Lanaʻi—nicole.davis@noaa.gov
Kauaʻi—(808) 651-7668
Big Island—(808) 756-5961

Learning from the watershed model how land-based activities affect our oceans.

Water Quality Snapshot Days with Hui o Koʻolaupoko (HOK) are an easy way to help monitor the quality of Hawaiʻi’s oceans, streams, and other water sources. As a volunteer on Snapshot Day, you’ll learn how to sample the water for temperature, turbidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and enterococcus bacteria.

To see the results of HOK’s first 2010 Snapshot Day—February 6 at Kualoa Beach Park, Kaneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu—go to http://huihawaii.org/data.html.

Recording data from tests of water samples.

Volunteers are invited to participate in the next Snapshot Day on March 6, 9am-11am, at Heʻeia State Park in Kaneʻohe. For more details, visit www.huihawaii.org or call Community Coordinator, Kristen Nalani Mailheau, at (808) 381-7202.

HOK would like to thank all the volunteers who participated in the February event, Hawaiʻi Pacific University for the use of the YSI 85, and Surfrider Foundation Oʻahu Chapter for the use of the Idexx machine to process enterococcus samples. HOK consistently seeks funds (private, state and federal) to continue monitoring water quality and works closely with the State of Hawaiʻi.

The Peak of Olomana Rises above Kaha Garden and Kawainui Marsh

Kaha Garden is located within Kawainui Neighborhood Park in Kailua, Oʻahu, and is maintained solely by community volunteers. Developed in 2007 by Hui o Koʻolaupoko, the garden is a living example of how individual homeowners can improve the local environment with what they plant. Visitors can walk the garden pathways, guided by interpretative signs, to see how native vegetation and xeriscape plants might appear in their own backyards. A website—http://kahagardens.com—designed by local elementary school students complements the Kaha Garden experience.

Volunteers at the garden are taught to identify native plants, learn their growing patterns, and understand their historic and cultural uses. They pass this knowledge on to park users, and help them with selecting proper plants for their homes and where to purchase them. Future plans include installing additional signage, replacing the cement sidewalk with pervious pavers, and expanding the planted area. In 2009, volunteers committed over 1,200 hours to Kaha Garden!

Volunteer workdays are the 4th Saturday of every other month, 8:30am-12pm. Upcoming workdays:

March 27
May 22

For more information, visit www.huihawaii.org or call Community Coordinator, Kristen Nalani Mailheau, at (808) 381-7202.

(Additional partners include landowners City and County of Honolulu: Park Department, Hawai‘i Department of Health: Clean Water Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Hui Ku Maoli Ola, LET Academy, and Hughes and Hughes Landscaping.)

Young Volunteers Help a Native Sapling Settle into Its New Home

Taking Cuttings for Stream Outplanting

Recent water quality monitoring of Heʻeia Stream in Kaneʻohe, Oʻahu, has shown high levels of nitrates and nitrites (possibly from fertilizer and pesticide overuse, and high turbidity due to stream bank erosion and nonnative vegetation).

The Heʻeia Stream Restoration Project of Hui o Koʻolaupoko addresses these issues by restoring sections of the stream banks and nearby forest with native vegetation, installing erosion control material, and holding workshops to educate area residents about proper fertilizer/pesticide use and useful native plants.

Volunteers play a vital role in this project. In this early stage, workdays focus on native Hawaiian plant identification and propagation, plus clearing invasive plants along the stream. Upon completion of the project, approximately 2,000 feet of stream bank and surrounding forest will have been restored! The area will be used by the community and school groups for environmental education.

Ulei Cuttings

Upcoming Heʻeia Stream Restoration workdays:

February 20
March 20
April 17
May 15

For more information, visit www.huihawaii.org or call Community Coordinator Kristen Nalani Mailheau at (808) 381-7202.

(Additional project partners include: Papahana Kuaola, Hui Ku Maoli Ola, Hawaiʻi Department of Health Clean Water Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Hawaiʻi Pacific University.)

Planting Kupukupu at Kaha Garden

Throughout the Koʻolaupoko moku (district) of Windward Oʻahu, Makapuʻu to Kualoa, land-based pollution is a leading threat to ocean health and resources. The mission of Hui o Koʻolaupoko is to protect this ocean health by restoring the ʻaina (land), mauka to makai (from the mountain to the ocean), through: (1) watershed/ahupuaʻa restoration and monitoring, (2) natural resource coordination/community involvement, and (3) scientific data and information dissemination.

Volunteers are essential to these efforts! Projects include erosion control, water quality monitoring, invasive species removal, and habitat restoration using native Hawaiian flora.

Check back throughout February for more details on the upcoming events:

Heʻeia Stream Restoration Project: Help restore sections of the stream banks and nearby forest with native vegetation, install erosion control material, and participate in educational workshops. Next volunteer day: February 20

Volunteer Days at Kaha Garden: Help maintain the garden while learning about native Hawaiian plants and local watershed issues. Next volunteer day: March 27

Water Turbidity Testing on Water Quality Snapshot Day

Water Quality Snapshot Days: Help raise awareness about water quality monitoring and environmental conditions. Next volunteer days: (Kualoa) February 6, (Heʻeia) March 6

For more information, visit www.huihawaii.org or call Community Coordinator, Kristen Nalani Mailheau, directly at (808) 381-7202.