KAILUA-KONA — The Big Island Community Beach Clean Up event is back and has the potential this year to be bigger than ever before.
On beaches from Milolii to Puako, volunteers ranging in age from keiki to kupuna will be out in force on March 4, beautifying West Hawaii’s coastline. Cleanup orientation will begin at 8 a.m., and participants have the option of checking in at either the Old Kona Airport Park in Kailua-Kona or Puako Boat Ramp in South Kohala.
The introductory session includes a pre-cleanup briefing, after which every volunteer will receive protective gloves, trash bags and a T-shirt. From there, they will disperse to beaches of their choice — including Kua Bay, Honokohau Harbor, Milolii and several other locations in between — where they will spend roughly three hours getting their hands dirty so the beaches can stay clean.
Around 50 or 60 volunteers are also scheduled to meet in Naalehu to hit areas around South Point.
“This year, I’m targeting micro plastics because we have all these plastics getting under the sand,” said Jeff Fear, of the Big Island Wave Riders Against Drugs, who is a primary organizer of the event. “The beach might look clean on the top, but once you start putting the sand through the screen boxes, we’re finding needles, drug caps, all kinds of stuff.
“It looks clean, but it’s not clean.”
Lunch, raffles, prizes, games and music are all part of the festivities at the Old Kona Airport Park after the cleanup concludes around noon. The day will wrap up around 2 p.m.
Fear’s group has been organizing surf contests and beach clean ups for 24 years, and their efforts have steadily grown. Last year, organizers handed out more than 600 plate lunches to volunteers just in Kona, he said.
And this year, the number of organizations and participants involved has grown. Along with the Big Island Wave Riders Against Drugs, County of Hawaii, Keep Puako Beautiful and the Betty Kanuha Foundation are all listed as major sponsors. West Hawaii Today is also sponsoring the event.
Fear said organizers have printed 1,000 T-shirts and gathered as many trash bags in preparation for the swell of support. The increased community involvement is exactly what the effort needs, Fear explained, as last year more than 50 pounds of cigarette butts were collected at the Old Kona Airport Park alone.
Fear said the event is particularly important for keiki, who learn the importance of environmental protection and how to stay safe from hazards like used needles and an increased presence of dangerous Staphylococcus bacteria (staph) on Hawaii Island beaches.
Children who participate will all be accompanied by an adult. They will be instructed to avoid contact with any biohazardous material and directed instead to notify their chaperone, who will handle its disposal.
Those who wish to participate in the cleanup effort may contact Fear at 896-6966.