As April approaches, and everyone kicks in to Earth Month mode, we are sure to see an onslaught of events, tips, and tricks to help us be more eco-conscious consumers, reduce our carbon impact or even totally eliminate waste from our lives.  But for some people, these life changes can seem like that New Year's resolution that we are still planning to start; a great idea, something we desire, but we just haven't equipped ourselves with the tools to succeed.

We want to give you the tools to be able to make bigger and more permanent changes in your life.  So, for the month of March, Hui o Ko`olaupoko is encouraging our supporters to join our weekly plastic-free mini challenges.  


Whether you are an old pro at living plastic free or you want to learn why plastic consumption is such an issue, you can join our staff each week as we pose a new challenge and give you the tips to succeed.  

Every Saturday evening we will post the week's challenge to our Facebook & Instagram page.  We want you to post pictures of your challenge successes (and fails) with the hashtag #HOKplasticfreechallenge for a chance to will HOK logo gear each week.

The first challenge will be posted the evening of Saturday March 3rd, so stay tuned!

Local Organizations...  Sustainable Coastlines, Plastic Free Hawaii, Kokua Hawaii Foundation, 808 Cleanups.


For the beginner... One whole week seem too tough?  Start small with plasticfreetuesday,  One day a week no plastic consumption and no plastic waste.

The next step...zerowastechef  poses challenges that may take you a few days or multiple weeks to get the hang of.

Step up your game...  Think you are ready to go totally waste free? Check out this woman's journey to being able to live virtually wast free for 2 years.

And of course, the universal hashtag plasticfreechallenge, A social media event to focus on solutions to the plastic pollution problem fueled by your creative contributions, Take the Challenge Share Your Experiences.

​We have had our heads down working hard to keep the weeds at bay during this wonderful rainy winter weather.  While the weeds have been growing strong, so have the native plants.  Check out this two year old Ma'o Hau Hele (hibiscus brackenridgei), our State Flower, that is growing at the He'eia Estuary Project.

​We are so grateful to the 1,267 volunteers who donated over 3,700 hours to 49 events at various HOK projects across Ko'olaupoko. HOK is an entity with a small staff, two full-time and one part-time employee.  The amount of volunteers we have had over the last 9 years equals a staff of over 20 full-time employees.  Let me break that down... that's over 15,00 volunteers who have donated over 45,500 hours of service! So it really should go without saying, it's the volunteers that make HOK successful!
 
Here at HOK we are excited for 2018, watching current restoration sites mature and kicking off a new project with in the He'eia Estuary site (details to come in a few months), revisiting some of our older project sites, and of course - continuing to work with the community to have a positive impact on our natural environment through restoration and education programs.  

Speaking of He'eia Estuary, have your driven on Kamehameha Highway near the pier lately?  Thanks to all of the HOK volunteers, hardworking invasive species removal contractors and our neighbors at the State Park and He'eia Fishpond, you can now see the ocean from the road and we are beginning to make a dent in the wall of massive invasive mangrove trees and we will continue to out-plant native plants on these 5 acres in 2018.

​We will be continuing our monthly community workdays atHe'eia Estuary  on the third Saturday every month and we will continue second Saturday workdays which will rotate quarterly between Kaha Garden and the  Rain Gardens at Windward Community College, so be sure to check our calendar for dates and details.
 
Ultimately, we hope our work inspires you to take action, manifests action at the government level and can provide inspiration to the development industry to incorporate native plants, a rain garden or other ʻgreen buildingʻ techniques into new building designs and prioritize funding for ecosystem protection. 
 
Mahalo for all your support over the years and in 2017.  We look forward to working with old friends and partners and meeting new ones in 2018.  

​Have you ever had a project, life event, or other big undertaking that has had you looking for the light at the end of a very long tunnel?  Iʻm sure we have all been in a similar position and eventually we have reached the end of that tunnel and basked in the bright, warm sunlight.

For Hui o Koʻolaupoko, that  tunnel has been a three year and five acre journey of  invasive mangrove removal at Heʻeia Estuary and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.   Literally, we can finally see the sunlight shining through the trees.  What was once a dense, dark forest of invasive mangrove has now been restored to a visible stream channel, thousands of native plants, and an open estuary and mud flats where native shorebirds are foraging once again.

​​Thanks to over 1700 volunteers, project partners, and neighboring non-profit organizations who assisted with mangrove removal efforts, HOK has successfully cleared five acres of mangrove from Heʻeia State Park property.  Now, when you drive on Kamehameha Highway towards Heʻeia Kea Pier, the ocean, estuary and historic fishpond wall can be seen from the road immediately after the bridge!  Not only has the work included mangrove removal and native species out-plantings but HOK has established a coastal walking trail and interpretive signage will be installed in the coming months. 
The past three yeas of work has been funded in part by grants from the Hawaii Department of Health: Clean Water Branch, The Hawaii Fish Habitat Partnership, The Laura Jane Musser Foundation and the Hawaii Community Foundation.  

As these grants come to a close at the end of 2017, we know that our work at the estuary is not yet complete.  HOK is honored to announce that with a generous grant from Hawaiian Electric Industries Charitable Foundation, HOK will continue to attack the invasive weeds and out-plant natives at this and all of our other project sites in 2018!

This year has flown by and the holidays are right around the corner. With some exciting new projects coming up HOK is sure to be busy during these final months of 2017. To help us through these busy times we would like to officially welcome our Americorps intern, Jamie, to the team. While Jamie has already gotten her feet dirty with HOK over this summer, she is now going to be working with us until next August! Jamie grew up in Kailua but moved to the mainland for high school and college. She graduated from the University of South Carolina Beaufort with her B.S. in Biology concentrating in coastal ecology and conservation. After Jamie graduated in December 2015 she moved back to the islands to start a career in environmental management. She enjoys hiking, exploring new places, and spending time with her family. Jamie will be taking on the bulk of the Community Coordinator's position and will assist with volunteer recruitment and training, facilitating community workdays and conducting field work at all of HOK's project sites. We are very excited to have her working with us and can't wait to watch her grow in this position. 

If you are at one of the work days be sure to introduce yourself and welcome Jamie to our HOK family.

​It's hard to believe that this year, we are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Kaha Native Plant Garden! 10 years ago our community came together to celebrate the blessing of Kaha Native Plant Garden in Kawainui Neighborhood Park. 

To the right is a photo of Kaha Gardens when it was first installed in 2007.

The project replaced grass and invasive species along 150 yards of stream bank with native Hawaiian plants which can be used for soil stabilization, bio-filtration and water conservation. All plant species in the garden can be found naturally in dry coastal areas throughout the Hawaiian Islands and can thrive with only the water provided by rain events and occasional summer watering.

​Construction of the site began the week of March 10th, 2014 with excavation and formation of the rain garden basins and berms. Planting of native species took place during the first week of April. Students, professors and community members helped install 2,000 native plants of 18 different species on the site in just three days.



















​Now, over three years later, the native plants have filled in and the rain gardens are acting as designed.  No longer does water flow across the sidewalk for students to dodge.  The rain water is all captured in the rain garden basins to infiltrate into the ground and be used by the native plants.