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Why Clean the Beach?

WE’RE ALL OnE OCEAn by Emily Garland

for collecting beach and schoolyard Park in Hilo. AOO’s Hilo Stations are
trash. Each Station is decorated with in collaboration with Pacific Quest,
students play an Aoo created ocean-themed game at
national geographic’s 2015 BioBlitz Festival at hawai’i children’s ocean-themed art and a horticultural therapy program. A
volcanoes national Park. signage that educates beachgoers deeply rooted community nonprofit,
about marine debris and lists simple AOO partners with many local
action steps each person can take organizations. Each year, AOO expects
to reduce this debris. Stewarded by that its seven Hawaii Stations will
local residents, students and youth educate 27,560 people and enable
organizations, AOO’s Stations are 9,000 people to remove more than
supported by agencies such as the 450,000 pieces of trash from beaches.
Department of Land and Natural
Resources and The County of Hawaii. In addition to installing Stations, AOO
All one ocean (Aoo) founder hallie Austen iglehart, left, provides community education, with
with elizabeth Pickett, formerly of the Malama Kai
Foundation, and Aoo advisory board member Rev. M. Kalani Author and community organizer the aim of empowering people not
souza at one of Aoo’s hapuna Beach Clean up stations. Hallie Austen Iglehart founded AOO only to clean their schoolyards, ocean
in 2010 after encountering a seagull and waterways, but also to make
Our ocean and waterways are the entangled in fishing line on her environmentally healthy choices
lifeforce of our planet, and must (such as using reusables instead of
be protected. Yet because of trash daily beach walk. Iglehart untangled disposables) and to share these healthy
the bird, but knew her work wasn’t
generated by humans, Earth’s waters choices with others. AOO aims to
are in jeopardy. Humans dump eight finished. AOO has installed 37 Beach install a Beach Clean Up Station at
Clean Up Stations—in Hawaii,
million tons of plastic in our ocean a every beach and a School Clean Up
year, and our ocean is filled with 5.3 California, Iowa and Alabama. Station at every school—in Hawaii and
Hundreds of thousands of beachgoers
trillion pieces of plastic. If we continue beyond. But AOO can’t do it without
at our current rate, by 2050 the ocean’s have used these Stations to remove you. If you’re interested in sponsoring,
more than one million pieces of trash
plastic will outweigh its fish. More setting up or caring for a Station or
than one million marine creatures die from beaches. Five Stations are in entering AOO’s upcoming Beach
Hawaii—four on the Big Island and
each year from eating and becoming Clean Up Challenge, please email
entangled in debris, especially plastic. one on Oahu. Two of the Big Island katie@alloneocean.org.
Stations are at Kona’s Hapuna Beach
Plastic also leaches toxins, which enter
the food chain and can cause cancer, State Park, and the other two are in For more information, please visit
Hilo—one at Richardson Beach and
birth defects and endocrine and alloneocean.org.
immune disorders in humans. one at Reeds Bay. The Oahu Station is
at Kailua Beach Adventures, at Kailua
All One Ocean (AOO) provides a Beach in Kailua. During the recent
simple, sustainable and community- Kailua Beach Station installation, 26
generated solution to ocean trash: fifth graders and six volunteers used emily garland lives in
Beach and School Clean Up Stations. the Station to remove 18 pounds of hilo, hawaii. she is a
AOO’s Stations, permanently mounted microplastics from Kailua Beach. writer, adventurer and cat
at beaches, watersheds and schools, And stay tuned, because AOO will lover. she enjoys picking
are wooden boxes containing soon install two more Big Island up trash and living
repurposed, reusable coffee bean bags simply and sustainably. Check out her blog at
Stations, both at Carlsmith Beach globetrottingreenies.com.

SUMMER 2017 | Living Aloha the BIG ISLAND of HAWAII 37