September 2011 ICC Beach Cleanup Tally

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to all who pitched in to make Saturday's clean up a success. Volunteers smiled through the rain to collect marine debris and celebrate with a low-impact potluck. This effort makes for a total of 700 pounds of beach cleaning power since last September!

Here are the tallied results from volunteer data sheets. We collected and sorted 150 POUNDS in less than 2 hours! All the data from this international event will go first to the City and County of Honolulu's "Get the Drift and Bag It" program and then be posted on the Ocean Conservancy website in the following months. You can also compare this to last year's results.

10 Paper bags                                     108 Cups, plates or cutlery

75 Plastic bags                                    252 Food wrappers

7 Balloons                                           25 Pull tabs

21 Plastic beverage bottles                   6 Batteries

22 Glass bottles                                   370 Straws and stirrers

36 Beverage cans                                18 Toys

411 Caps or lids                                   49 Items of clothing, shoes 

500+ Bits of micro-debris                      2 Motor oil containers

84 Fishing line, net, or rope segments     3 light bulbs                                        

14 Floats, traps, lures                                  

13 Pieces of plastic sheeting                 2426 Cigarette butts                                

6 Cigarette lighters                               3 Diapers

26 Cigar tips                                        13 Tobacco wrappers        

1 bike                                                  2 bike tire tubes

12 pieces of cinder block                       5 car parts

7 misc. building materials                       4 misc. office supplies            

125 misc. paper products                   

115 misc. toiletries including band-aids and baby wipes

We send out thanks to all the individuals, groups, sponsors, and businesses that came together for PFK's project. Mahalo to Hawaii ZTA Alumnae Chapter, St. Anthony School Green Club, and Hawaiian Island Twisters for sending volunteers. Mahalo to Global Village, Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks, Whole Foods, Muumuu Heaven, and Kim Houston of NYR Organics for helping make the raffle extra special. Support our partnering plastic-free businesses and tell them thank you!

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! Volunteers noted the massive amount of litter within the parks. Remind your friends to dispose of their trash, especially cigarettes, properly. Cigarette filters are actually partially plastic and leach toxic chemicals into the ground and water. Yuck!

Finally, we hope the clean up was also a learning experience for you. This was the 26^th Annual International Coastal Cleanup. Nearly 145 million pounds of trash later, Ocean Conservancy has learned that removal alone is not enough. The real solution is stopping trash from reaching our waterways and the ocean in the first place. Check out our Act and Learn pages for ways you can make your household a little less plastic. 

More photos on our Facebook page!

International Coastal Cleanup Sept. 17th

We will see you Saturday, September 17th, Kailua Beach Park, 10am-12pm

Over the past 25 years, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup has become the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean health. Nearly nine million volunteers from 152 countries and locations have cleaned 145 million pounds of trash from the shores of lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean on just one day each year. We will be sorting and counting our trash. This is the only country by country, state by state, city by city record of marine debris pollution. More on the ICC at Ocean Conservancy. Clean-ups will be going on at sites across Hawaii Sept. 17th as part of "Get The Drift & Bag It," Hawaii's contribution to the ICC.

Won't you join us?

When: Saturday, September 17th, 10:00am: Check-in, 12:00pm: Join us for the trash tally and a low-impact potluck lunch. Stay for raffle prizes from local partners such as Whole Foods, Muumuu Heaven, and Global Village!

Where: Kailua Beach Park, 450 Kawailoa Road, Meet near the Canoe House, Main Parking Lot, East of Buzz’s Restaurant

What to bring: sunscreen, hat, work gloves, old colanders, water bottles, friends, and a great attitude! Bring any plastic grocery bags you have to give them a second life as trash bags. If your interested, also bring a low-impact lunch box or food to share. We'll have coolers and other supplies.

RSVP on Facebook

Join us for BAG IT! Tues, July 26 at 6:30

PFK and Kokua Hawaii Foundation are proud to help with a screening of "Bag It" for the Kailua community. All are welcome. We'll have refreshments, and the first 30 families get a free tote from Whole Foods!

Tuesday, July 26th 6:30 to 8:30 at Huakailani School

upstairs at 146 Hekili Street RSVP on Facebook

Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. Join the Bag It movement and decide for yourself how plastic your life will be.

Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Upcoming PFK Events

Here's what's coming up. Details to follow as the dates approach.

Tuesday, July 26th  
We're excited for another "BAG IT" screening, this time at Huakailani School on Hekili St. 6:30-8:30pm, families welcome!

Saturday, September 17th 

Join us for a beach clean-up and low impact potluck. We'll be collecting data for the the annual International Coastal Clean-Up for the Ocean Conservancy. We'll be working between Kalama Beach Park and Kailua Beach Park, 10am-12pm.

We hope to see you there! Until then stay cool!