Subscribe to Our New Mailing Lists
To keep our friends up-to-date on all of the latest happenings and opportunities with the Kokua Hawai’i Foundation, we’ve started three new mailing lists to complement our regular newsletter and Kokua Festival list. Sign up to get specific information about Kokua programs and tell your friends, too!
Please click here to subscribe to any or all of the following mailing lists:
• Kokua Hawai’i Foundation - Monthly E-Newsletter and Periodic Announcements from the Kokua Hawai’i Foundation
• Kokua Festival - Festival News and Information from the Official Kokua Festival Website
• ‘AINA In Schools- Updates, Resources and Volunteer Opportunities from the ‘AINA In Schools Farm to School Program
• Hawai’i Educators- Environmental Education News and Opportunities for Hawai’i Educators
• Plastic Free- Tips and Updates from the Plastic Free Hale’iwa Coalition
Simplify the Holidays
The holidays are a time of celebration with family, friends, and the community. Every family celebrates the season in different ways and for different reasons, but there is a universal act in which most participate: Giving. This once-simple holiday tradition has led to consumption practices that can have serious impacts on our environment—and the family budget!
This year the environment and the economy have taken center stage leading into the holiday season. Families are much more conscious consumers and are choosing green products, alternative gifts and eco-friendly traditions such as: picking up litter when caroling and celebrating with a locally grown or potted Christmas tree.
Please see our 12 Days of A Green Holiday for more ideas to help simplify your season.
(Christmas Seal by Heather Brown)
‘AINA In Schools Cooking Demonstration
KCC Culinary Institute-trained Chef Nina Beatty visited Waialua and Sunset Beach Elementary Schools’ 3rd graders in October. Chef Nina prepared two easy “close to the source” snacks for the students to sample: guacamole and banana sorbet. These visits were part of the Agricultural Literacy component of the ‘AINA IS program. Students learned about locally grown foods and that cooking can be fun and tasty! Mahalo, Nina!
To receive future updates about the ‘AINA In Schools program, click here.
Lahaina Town Clean Up
Maui - Kamehameha Iki Beach Park next to the 505.
Sun., Nov. 16 @ noon
For more e-mail or call 808.298.5981
Green Market Gift Fair
Sat., Dec. 6 at Church of the Crossroads
KHF is helping to give you a chance to Simplify your Holiday with the Green Market Gift Fair! You will find gift certificates that give back to the community, be able to create gifts from recycled materials, and learn how to create gifts at home with your family. For example, you can buy a gift certificate that pays for a school garden lesson at one of Hawaii’s public schools. We will have native plants for sale, as well as items like reusable grocery totes and biodegradable party supplies. There will be demonstrations throughout the day, such as how to make rain barrel catchments for your garden and green cleaning supplies for your home.
Check back for more information on the Green Market Gift Fair
KHF Programs updates
“The Trash Heap” premieres on Oct. 13
The Kokua Hawai’i Foundation is partnering with the Department of Health’s HI-5 Recycling Program and Kahilu Theatre to bring “The Trash Heap” to Hawai’i schools. “The Trash Heap” is a musical production about the 3 R’s: Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. The play’s main character, Kai, discovers how to practice the 3 R’s to take care of these islands.
Teachers at participating schools will receive an educational curriculum guide to accompany the show. The guide can also be downloaded here. The first run of twenty shows will take place on O’ahu and Hawai’i Island in October and November and more performances throughout the state will be added in the spring. See future newsletters for updates.
2008-2009 Kokua Earth Action Projects: Submit Proposals Now!
Once again we invite Hawai’i elementary schools, grades K-6, to start a Kokua Earth Action Project. Kokua Earth Action Projects are environmental service learning initiatives aimed at taking care of our islands and encouraging long-lasting change in your classrooms, schools or community.
All completed projects will be honored and showcased on our website. Groups submitting outstanding Kokua Earth Action Project proposals will be invited to participate in a Keiki Kokua Event next year. Proposals must be postmarked by November 14, 2008.
Download the proposal template and read about last year’s KEAP projects and Keiki Kokua Festival on our website.
‘AINA IS School Garden Basics workshop for teachers
Back by popular demand! Kokua’s ‘AINA In Schools program presents School Garden Basics: A free workshop for Hawai’i educators. The workshop will be offered on October 11, November 8, and December 13, 2008. Download our flyer for more information.
Take another Plastic Free step and ‘Break the Bottled Water Habit’
The New American Dream website is challenging us to ‘Break the Bottled Water Habit’ and encourage our work places, family, and friends to use reusables. Bottled Water comes in plastic bottles that are #1 and #2. These are meant for single-use only. 
86% of all bottles of water do not get recycled! Not to mention the amount of energy it takes to create them, ship them, store them, and then recycle or dispose of them. Did you know it takes 3 liters of water to create a 1 liter bottle of water? Now that seems very wasteful when most of us have excellent tap water at home, over 90% of the water systems in America are above the EPA standards.
Please join the Plastic Free Hale’iwa group effort by taking the pledge and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.
To take the pledge as a part of the Plastic Free Hale’iwa group, click here .
Take the “Eat Local Challenge!”
Have you ever had a truly satisfying meal? One where every ingredient had a story, a direct line you could trace from the soil to your fork? Your local foodshed is a gem when it comes to high quality foods that are minimally processed and closest to the source. Eating locally gives you the opportunity to know your food and where if comes from, meet your neighbors, support small farms and the local economy, practice a sustainable habit, and eat healthy and fresh with the seasons. 
Take the challenge at EatLocalChallenge.com.
Check out these websites for more benefits of buying and eating food locally:
100MileDiet.org
LocalHarvest.org
AnimalVegetableMiracle.com
Encourage local, healthy eating this Halloween! October is macadamia nut season! Give out nuts, chocolates from Hawai’i, or dried fruit instead of high-sugar, artificially colored & flavored candies.
Thank you for your support!
This past school year we were able to make positive impacts through our various school programs. With the support of over 2600 members and over 400 volunteers, we served almost 14,000 students islandwide in Hawai’i. Here’s how we measure up:
* Environmental Education Field Trip Assistance – 2023 students, 100 teachers, 25 schools
* Environmental Education Mini Grants – 256 students, 16 teachers, 4 schools
* AINA IS Garden Lessons - 600 students, 28 teachers, 3 schools
* Schools with Gardens on Campus - 8 schools
* Kokua Earth Action Projects - 1280 students, 62 teachers, 14 schools
* 3R’s Program - 9576 students, 527 teachers, 16 schools
* Worm Bins-Composting – 96 students, 8 teachers, 3 schools
* KHF membership – 2671 (If you are not a member, join now!)
* Volunteers - 410
We are looking forward to making bigger impacts this school year!
“GO GREEN!” at School
Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind at the start of this new school year:
1) Pack a smart lunch.
• Use reusable containers, utensils, and cloth napkins to pack a waste-free lunch of yummy local and/or organic products. Whole fruits come in their own “wrapper” and are healthier than processed snacks! Visit LunchLessons.org or WastefreeLunches.org for more ideas.
2) Rethink your school supplies.
• Before buying new, check out which supplies from last year are still usable.
• Purchase earth-friendly school supplies like recycled paper, refillable pens and pencils, and durable supplies that will last for several years.
3) Get involved in greening your school!
• Save energy, start a garden, or reduce and recycle waste on campus. Get more ideas GreenSchools.net.
• “Increase Your Green School” Competition – Applications due December 15
DoSomething.org is calling on students to green their schools! Students who make the biggest effort to reduce their school’s carbon footprint this fall could win up to $1,500 to further their efforts.
Get your KHF 2008-2009 School Calendars now!
From July 2008 through June 2009, this edition features vibrant works of art that follow the theme “The Earth is Our Playground.” Facts found in these pages offer helpful ways to minimize our carbon footprints. The 35 Hawai’i school students whose artwork is featured will each receive a set of LED light bulbs for their home as part of our offsetting efforts for the 2008 Kokua Festival. All proceeds from the sale of this calendar will go to Kokua programs. Printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper with soy inks. Cost: $10.
Visit the Kokua Store to get your copy today! View the artwork here.
Recycle Variety of Paper Types
Hawai’i’s largest commercial printer recycles junk mail, phone books, bundled magazines (printed on glossy paper, too) — for free! Bring them to Hagadone, 274 Pu’uhale Road, between 8 a.m. and noon on the second Saturdays of each month. Hagadone shreds, bales and recycles more than 140 tons of paper per month; Myah Ely, 847-5310 or HagadonePrinting.com.
Join the ‘AINA IS team of volunteers!
With the support of teachers, school administrators, and parents we’ve just completed a very successful ‘AINA IS two year pilot program with five schools on O’ahu. Five more schools will join in this fall. To support the rapid growth and sustainability of ‘AINA IS we need dedicated community volunteer support:
• Nutrition Docent: Teach nutrition lessons in the school to 2nd, 5th, or 6th graders. (Commitment: Attend 4 trainings and teach 8 classroom lessons per school year)
• Nutrition Lesson Assistant: Assists the nutrition docent with shopping for food, and assists during the lesson with food prep and lesson cart preparation. (Commitment: Assist with 8 classroom lessons per school year, 2 per quarter)
• Garden Lesson Assistant: Assists lead Garden Educators who teach garden lessons in schools. (Commitment: Attend 3 garden lessons per semester for K, 1st, or 5th grades. Once a semester for 4th grade.)
• Garden Party: Help to build and maintain school gardens. Duties can include assembling garden boxes, loosening soil, shoveling mulch, creating garden artwork, watering, and more. (Commitment: Attend “Garden Parties” at the beginning, middle and end of each school year, or as frequently as every week, depending on volunteer’s availability)
• Farm Connections: Do you know a farmer that may be interested in hosting a field trip, speaking to a class, or offering their local produce as a school menu option? Let us know!
There is something for everyone and training is provided! E-mail us at for more information!
Plastic Free Hale’iwa Update
The Plastic Free Hale’iwa Coalition now has over 55 members actively using and seeking out alternatives to single-use plastic. Hale’iwa is buzzing with new ideas and its businesses are making positive changes. The Coalition will have countertop displays and customer sign-up cards in the participating coalition businesses by the end of the month. Please look for these displays and support these stores and restaurants!
Attention Teachers!
Environmental Education Mini-Grants Available!
Does your classroom need a worm bin? Would you like a presentation on eco-footprints from The Green House. Kokua has started a mini-grant program to help Hawai’i public school teachers pay for supplies and trainings for their environmental education initiatives! Applications for this school year are available here.
This has been a great year for Environmental Field Trips!
26 schools participated in Kokua’s Environmental Education Field Trip Assistance Program during the 2007-2008 school year. In all, over 2000 students from Hawai’i’s schools were able to visit locations like Maui Nature Center in Iao Valley, Hawai’i Nature Center in Makiki, Waihe’e Shoreline on Maui and Camp Erdman on O’ahu’s North Shore. Principal Sheldon Oshio, along with the 2nd grade teachers of Waimalu Elementary School shared this about their recent trip to Hawai’i Nature Center, “… this field trip provided a wonderful learning experience for our students as well a first hand look in to the Cycles of Nature. They were given an opportunity to see, hear, and touch nature outside the classroom. Our students now have a better understanding and appreciation of nature’s delicate balance and how they can take an active role in the world around them. This certainly was a memorable field trip for all.�?
We look forward to supporting many more environmental field trips in the upcoming school year!
Why are these field trips so important? View this short video produced by the No Child Left Inside Coalition on the value of experiential environmental education. Check it out and sign on to the coalition today!
All At Once Community
All At Once (www.AllAtOnce.org) is Jack Johnson’s social action network providing information, tools, and motivation to empower individuals to become active in their local and world community. When on www.AllAtOnce.org, members discuss, explore, share, volunteer, and learn about important environmental issues and are rewarded for taking environmental action with free music downloads from Jack Johnson and friends. At Jack Johnson’s concerts, All At Once comes to life in the Village Green. Concert-goers connect with non-profit groups, learn about environmental actions they can take, capture environmental commitment photos, and enter to win a chance to watch Jack’s performance from the stage. Jack Johnson selected over 150 credible local non-profits worldwide to share their message online and in person at each show throughout the tour. Kokua Hawai’i Foundation is proud to be a non-profit partner of the All At Once Community. For a complete list of all non-profit groups and to become an All At Once member, visit www.AllAtOnce.org.
MAKE YOUR EARTH DAY RESOLUTION TODAY
Start a tradition of committing to reduce your eco-footprint every Earth Day and throughout the year. Our partners at Kanu Hawai’i will help us record Earth Day Resolutions year-round here on our website to measure the positive impacts we make together.
Big Mahalo to Kokua Festival Attendees, Volunteers, Performers and Supporters!
photo: Brian Bielman
Mahalo nui loa for another amazing year!
2008 Kokua Festival Merchandise
Missed it at the show? The Eco-Friendly 2008 Kokua Festival Merchandise will be available for sale via the Kokua Hawaii Foundation online store starting Monday, April 28th.