HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Drawing inspiration from her household’s avocado tree, excessive schooler Sophie Chen determined to take issues into her personal arms to deal with meals insecurity in Hawaii.
“I knew concerning the issues surrounding meals insecurity on the island. I personally have an avocado tree in my yard. And yearly we’re all the time making an attempt to present away these contemporary avocados. I all the time thought it was an excessive amount of for us to deal with individually as a household,” Sophie mentioned.
Due to this fruitful dilemma, Sophie determined as a substitute of letting these avocados go to waste, why not donate them to these in want.
Being only a sophomore at Punahou College, Sophie just lately based the nonprofit, The Kokua Tree.
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She just lately sat down with HNN to explain the work the group is doing to bolster meals sustainability in Hawaii within the fifth episode of “Repairing Earth.”
The initiative companions with households or anybody who’s to select vegetables and fruit from their backyards. The contemporary produce is then donated to starvation aid organizations like Aloha Harvest, the Hawaii Foodbank and the Pantry.
Sophie added {that a} huge purpose why she began this program was to supply a strategy to get native produce to those that can’t all the time afford it.
“Produce is so costly within the grocery shops and even the comfort shops so if in case you have a low earnings or in the event you’re experiencing meals insecurity, you’re not going to show to supply as your supply of vitamin for the day,” she mentioned.
In line with Feeding America, 1 in 9 folks face starvation in Hawaii — with about 1 in 5 being youngsters.
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“With the meals insecurity drawback right here, it form of felt like a one plus one, so I began this complete Kokua Tree concept,” Sophie mentioned. “Plus, I believe lots of people know folks with fruit bushes on the island. Like that is simply the proper local weather to have your individual yard fruit tree.”
Enlisting the assistance of different younger of us, the group has already had 4 harvests.
Collectively they’ve gathered 850 kilos of produce, which is equal to saving round $3,000 in meals.
The group has crammed bins of fruit from folks’s backyards, together with mountain apples, bananas and avocados.(The Kokua Tree)
“Our meals waste on Hawaii is a extremely huge situation and if we tied it with meals insecurity, it’s a extremely huge disgrace that we’re throwing out round 26% of our annual meals provide per yr,” Sophie mentioned.
“So, the Kokua Tree is hopefully making an attempt to present a sustainable answer to this drawback by protecting it in Hawaii. And that method we’re supporting native, we’re slicing down on fossil gasoline combustion from all of the delivery that is available in right here, and we’re additionally protecting produce away from invasive bugs and animals.”
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At the moment, Hawaii ships in round 85% to 95% of its meals — principally from the continental US.
From the farming course of itself to transporting produce, all of this contributes to our private carbon footprint.
“Individually, you’ll be able to undoubtedly reduce down in your meals waste. When you’re letting your meals expire or in the event you’re shopping for an excessive amount of of it then it contributes to the landfills, which in fact releases methane emissions into the air. So in a minor method, that’s one strategy to do it.”
However most significantly, Sophie mentioned one of the best ways to make an influence is to get entangled.
“I believe a number of our volunteers, particularly on our final property, felt much more linked to the land in a method. And that’s a giant a part of rising up right here,” Sophie mentioned.
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“It was a extremely nice expertise and if you wish to educate your self on this drawback, one of the best ways to do it’s to get some hands-on expertise, to get your arms within the mud, choose some fruit after which donate it.”
For extra on the dialog, hearken to Episode 5 of Repairing Earth, “Paving a Path Towards Meals Sustainability in Hawaii,” on the HNN web site or wherever you get your podcasts.
When you’re concerned about serving to out with the mission, e-mail kokuatree@gmail.com. For the newest on their work, you too can comply with them on Instagram @thekokuatree.
Copyright 2022 Hawaii Information Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii health officials today said they have fined Hawaii American Water $47,750 for discharging effluent exceeding permitted limits of ammonia nitrogen into the ocean.
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The state Department of Health has issued a notice of violation and order to the private water company for 14 such discharges from its East Honolulu Wastewater Treatment Plant between August 2022 and 2024.
“Ammonia is derived from the breakdown of proteins and amino acids in wastewater,” said Kathleen Ho, deputy director for the Environmental Health Administration, in a news release. “High concentrations of ammonia can have toxic effects on aquatic organisms and contributes to excess nutrients in the water. As such, the discharge of ammonia above allowable limits into state waters is unacceptable.”
In addition to exceeding limits allowed under its state-issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, the Health Department said the company also failed to submit required noncompliance reports on two occasions.
In addition to paying the penalty, the notice requires Hawaii American Water to take corrective actions.
Honolulu-based Hawaii American Water owns and operates the East Honolulu Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves about 35,000 people, according to the notice. The treated wastewater is released into the ocean via an outfall at Sandy Beach.
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DOH said based on state laws, all persons, including business owners, government agencies and visitors must comply with water pollution laws, and that failure to comply may result in penalties of up to $60,000 a day, per violation.
The department said it charged the company for 10 days of exceeding the limits rather than 12 because two were less than 1% over the permitted limit.
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Hawaii American Water may request a hearing within 20 days of receiving the notice.
When Hawaii’s legislative session opens on Jan. 15, one of the first orders of business will be voting on a new fee for incoming tourists.
In a Dec. 31, 2024 memorandum, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced plans for “building a climate-resilient Hawaii” which would include a fee for tourists that would help fund the state’s conservation efforts.
“The administration has also been working on proposing the ‘Green Fee” to the legislature. The initiative will require visitors to pay a fee to help fund climate resilience initiatives,” the statement read. “These funds will support efforts to preserve and protect our environment and promote clean energy solutions. As a result, these efforts will help build a more resilient, sustainable Hawaii for our future generations.”
The fee would be in addition to Hawaii’s existing tourism tax — 10.25 percent with an additional 3 percent in some counties.
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Initially, Green campaigned on a $50 flat fee for tourists during the 2022 election. A year later, officials proposed establishing a visitor impact fee program which would charge travelers a fee to buy a license to visit a state park, forest, hiking trail, or other state natural area. The initiative fell short and was not passed.
At the start 2024, a bill calling for a “modest fee” for tourists that would generate more than $68 million in revenue each year and increase awareness of the impacts of climate change was introduced. Weeks later, state lawmakers chose not to pass the initiative despite devastating wildfires that ravaged Maui’s western coast mere months prior in August 2023, which resulted in more than 100 deaths and destruction of historic Lāhainā.
Hawaii is far from the only destination imposing a tourism tax. In September 2024, New Zealand nearly tripled the fee for international visitors and on Dec. 1, 2024 the Maldives began a departure tax that ensures travelers contribute to island preservation. The countries join a long list of locales – including Iceland and the Italian city of Venice – using fees to help combat overtourism.
East Hawaii firefighters were busy with a pair of house fires over the New Year’s holiday.
Nine units answered a 1:47 p.m. alarm Wednesday of a fire at 18 Hokulani Street in Kaumana.
The first unit arrived three minutes later to find the home’s occupants — Owen Matsui and Anna Joaquin Matsui — outside but uninjured.
Heavy smoke and flames were coming from the rear of the structure, according to a Hawaii Fire Department statement. The fire was confined to the back lanai, kitchen and rear bedroom of the single-story, three-bedroom residence.
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The fire was reported under control at 2 p.m. and extinguished at 2:20 p.m.
Damage was reported at $498,500, and the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
The alarm for the second fire sounded at 12:03 a.m. Thursday for a house on Mapuana Street in Kalapana Seaview Estates in lower Puna.
Six units responded, with the first arriving at 12:28 a.m. Firefighters found the 1,500-square-foot, single-story wooden-framed residential structure fully engulfed in flames.
Neighbors with garden hoses attempted to keep the fire from spreading to their homes.
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Nobody was found at the actual scene of the fire, but according to an HFD statement, neighbors told firefighters that the structure was abandoned but had frequent squatters.
The fire was reported under control at 12:55 a.m. and extinguished at 3:40 a.m.
The loss was estimated at $150,000, and the cause of the fire hasn’t yet been determined.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/P4ELNPTM55AR7GEGN7YIN6P4VU.jpg "PODCAST: Meet the high schooler tackling food insecurity — one fruit tree at a time")
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