OUR STORY
In 1989, a group of young, idealistic newcomers to Hawai'i,
frustrated over the lack of recycling services in the islands, set out to
change things by literally taking matters into their own hands. They used a
number of tactics, one of which was to divert plastic, paper and tin cans going
into county trash roll-offs to the back of their parked cars instead. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the
501(c)3 educational non-profit they formed in 1992 has become RECYCLE HAWAI'I the state's
premier recycling organization, with 19 fulltime employees providing a range of
recycling and related educational services, including the operation of six
re-use centers across Hawai'i Island.
While the development of the organization has been largely
funded by contracts with the Hawai'i County Department of Environmental
Management, the recent loss of one of those contracts, worth $100,000, has
brought our zero waste outreach and education programs to a screeching halt, compelling us
to launch this fundraising campaign.
We seek to raise $60,000, with all contributions going
directly towards continuing our outreach education programs. The funds will be allocated as follows:
$10,000 for Zero Waste School Presentations to students and teachers K─12,
$10,000 to hold our 10th
Annual Art of Recycling School Competition, an islandwide exhibit of art made
from recycled materials by K─12 students,
$25,000 to continue our Composting
is Recycling, Too! education workshops offered monthly throughout Hawai’i
Island,
$15,000 for these additional outreach efforts:
● The Recycling
InfoLines, a 24/7 answering service for the east and west sides of Hawai'i
Island where callers can get answers to their recycling questions,
● The Hawai’i Island
Recycling Guide, a complete listing of local recycling services, updated
regularly, widely distributed & available on our website,
● The Recycle Hawai’i website upgrade, to better provide
recycling & educational resources, news, articles and notice of events,
● Zero Waste community event support & training.
The above list is ordered by priority, funding below our
goal will be allocated accordingly. Extra funds will be used to continue
programs into the next fiscal year. All
funds raised can also serve as matching funds to garner grants.
OUR IMPACT
Over the nine years we have been holding the annual Art of
Recycling Contest, Recycle Hawai’i has attracted 4,500 participants with 1,650
of them student artists. This program encourages everyone involved to
appreciate the inherent value of commonly discarded items as a means to promote
ingenuity and respect for resources. Art
entries go on display in the community where they were created and this
additional exposure spreads the important message to the students’ peers and
mentors. For many of the students involved,
the competition is a formative experience that allows them to re-imagine the
wasteful practices they are exposed to on a regular basis.
Since its inception in 2004, our “Composting is Recycling,
Too!” program has brought experts in the recovery of discarded organic
materials into communities islandwide where they have presented 262 home
composting and vermiculture workshops, teaching participants how to turn food
scraps, food contaminated paper and yard trimmings into valuable soil
amendments. While most view Hawai’i as a
lush Paradise, the truth is our soils are poor in the organic matter needed to
produce food crops. Capturing this resource, diverting it from the landfill and
turning it into soil provides a valuable service to humankind and Mother Earth.
During the course of our program, a total of 4,050 Earth Machines were
distributed to schools and households where they were used to contain organic
materials during the composting process, with each system providing the
potential to divert up to 10 tons of organic matter over its 10-year life. This
amounts to 405,000 tons of materials diverted from the landfill by the units
already in service. Based on the cost to purchase and distribute these systems,
the cost of processing these materials is $5.50 per ton, a $79.50 savings per
ton on what it costs our local government to landfill.
By comparison, our Zero Waste Initiative is a relatively new
program, active for only three years, but quickly becoming one of our most
important public offerings. Through this hands-on outreach effort, volunteers
install and manage sort stations that protect the value of discarded items at a
variety of community happenings and organizers collaborate with attendees to create
a waste-free event. Over the years we’ve been using this diversion method,
we’ve achieved an average 90% diversion rate. . . much to the amazement and
delight of all involved.
OUR REQUEST
Please note that we consider no donation too small and all amounts are greatly appreciated. If
you are not in a position to make a monetary contribution, we appreciate any
effort you make to spread the word about our campaign by using the Indiegogo
share tools and other social media applications at your command. We are also open to help from professionals
familiar with website development and fundraising activities other than online
crowdsourcing.
To have more of your donation go towards our programs, contribute by:
MAIL – Check payable to: Recycle Hawaii, PO Box 4847, Hilo, HI 96720
or WEBSITE http://www.recyclehawaii.org/memberdonate.html
Mahalo nui loa – Thank you very
much! Your support makes a huge
difference.