Context
The Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation is behind the Kokua Festival, which aims to bring together the territory's various NGOs for several days to share best practices, knowledge and skills in environmental protection in general: reducing plastic waste, managing bio-waste, etc. The organisation has made environmental education in Hawaii's schools and communities a powerful lever for change, helping to raise young people's awareness of environmental and food issues.
By funding projects, especially student school projects, the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation seeks to raise young people's awareness through sensory and concrete experiences and to "reconnect" them with nature so that they, in turn, can actively participate in protecting the archipelago. Hands-on learning activities that appeal to the senses, such as gardening or cooking classes, leave a lasting impression on the children's minds.
Projects
The organisation funds and runs several programmes in around sixty schools on Oʻahu, the third largest island in the archipelago.
Aina in Schools
Launched in 2006, this project aims to raise children's awareness of the environment and healthy, sustainable food by connecting them to the earth through practical, hands-on activities such as gardening. In 2020-2021, the Foundation worked directly with 23 schools in Hawaii and had to adapt its project to the health restrictions associated with Covid-19, in particular by inviting students to grow kalo plants at home or raise caterpillars to study the life cycle of butterflies.
Aina in Schools takes the form of lessons on nutrition given by teachers in partner schools, at a rate of 8 lessons per year. The project is aimed at pupils from nursery to sixth form and offers a range of activities for children:
- Gardening and composting, sometimes in gardens specially created by the schools.
- Excursions to local farms to learn about sustainable food solutions.
- Culinary demonstrations by chefs in the classroom.
3Rs in schools
This other programme is specifically dedicated to recycling in schools to raise awareness of the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The KHF provides guidance on these three themes and makes recycling bins available to everyone. These bins can hold electronic equipment as well as clothing and household items that can be given a second life or repaired. The programme also includes parallel activities such as film screenings and exhibitions of recycled art.
Results
Currently (2020-2021), KHF is supporting 107 schools with their recycling and composting solutions. For example, between August and December, 5 recycling collections were organised, collecting and diverting almost 60,000 pounds (over 27 tonnes) of metals, electronics, aluminium cans, paper, batteries and household items from the waste stream. Proceeds from the sale of some of the recycled materials go directly back to the schools that have the bins.
Plastic Free Hawaii
The programme aims to reduce single-use plastics on the islands by educating and empowering schools, businesses and community members. Plastic Free Hawaii tackles single-use plastics in a number of ways, including
- School and community presentations.
- Raising community awareness through informational meetings.
- Beach clean-ups.
- Selling plastic-free items and goods on the Foundation's website to promote other, more sustainable products and consumption.
- Establishing partnerships between companies, non-profit organisations and public authorities.
Recently (2020-2021), three sites on the north coast of the archipelago were cleaned up: 450 kg of waste was collected by around sixty people.
Funding
Public school teachers in Hawaii can apply for student project grants from the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation to help them achieve their environmental education goals. These project grants can be up to $200 per teacher and up to $1,000 per school.
A little extra
The Kokua Festival is the major fundraiser for the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation's programmes. It brings together environmental organisations, green businesses, musicians, artists, teachers and elected officials to support environmental education in Hawaiʻi. All proceeds from the festival go to the Foundation.
This sheet was written by Magda Salvatore in June 2021.
Last modification : 19 Jan 2024.
Kokua Hawaii Foundation
The Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2003, which supports environmental education in Hawaii's schools and communities through project funding. The aim of these programmes is to raise students' awareness so that they can have all the keys in hand to in turn have a positive impact on their environment.