International Coastal Cleanup Day in Kahuku

On Saturday 21st, Jamie, Steve and Rosie participated in a beach cleanup hosted by Plastic Free Hawaii, a program of the Kōkua Hawaii Foundation. Over 150 volunteers removed 4,329 lbs of marine debris from James Campbell Wildlife Refuge in Kahuku with over 2,000 lbs of that being from derelict fishing nets. 1,600 lbs was sorted and will be recycled by Parley.

In attendance were students from a variety of local elementary schools, the U.S. Forest Service who distributed 75 passes to for the Every Kid Outdoors program which gives 4th graders FREE access to hundreds of parks, lands and waters for one year, as well as island sustainability icon, musician and co-founder of Kōkua Foundation – Jack Johnson.

The #1 reason beach cleanups are important is because they make you more aware of your own lifestyle. After you spend hours picking up endless plastic debris and see the extent of the damage firsthand – its hard to not have a complete mindset shift. Most, no matter how hard they try, can never go back to not noticing pollution and there’s a great chance you’ll consider more eco friendly options in the future.

International Coastal Cleanup Day is one of the world’s largest annual preservation and protection events for our oceans and beaches. The global movement encompasses 6 million volunteers in 90 countries, across the United States and the Hawaii islands, all coming together to promote awareness and to malama Hawaii’s shorelines.