David Y. Ige

(Hilo) – A free event at the Wailoa Center is being held to encourage everyone to use plastic free bottles to help the environment. In 2018, the DLNR Division of State Parks was awarded a grant to install 19 water bottle filling stations on Hawai’i Island, Maui, O’ahu and Kaua’i. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of single-use plastic water bottles that park visitors use during their visits to state parks.

Five additional water bottle filling stations will be installed on Hawaiʽi Island: three in Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area (two at Hāpuna Beach and one at Waialea Bay), one in the Maniniʽōwali section of Kekaha Kai State Park (more commonly known as Kua Bay), and one in Kealakekua Bay Historical Park.

The Help Keep the Sea Plastic Free event will be held on Saturday November 23^rd from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and is part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Prevention Grant project that also celebrates the installation of a water bottle filling station at Wailoa Center.

This event includes educational booths and art activities using marine debris collected at Kamilo Point. Join with State Parks, Hawaiʽi Nei, Hawaiʽi Island Art Alliance, DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources Marine Wildlife Program, Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, and Hawaiʽi Wildlife Fund to learn why we should all reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse single-use plastics in our daily lives, starting with using refillable water bottles.

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

Debris Fountain and Water Bottle Filling Station photos- https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tccnueb65aa9iwq/AACjC62z-VFHJPLdkk2R_gH3a?dl=0

Media contact:

AJ McWhorter

Communications Specialist

Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources

[email protected]

808-587-0396 (Communications Office)