Added on April 23, 2018  Erica McMillan   ,

Earth Day Aloha ‘Aina

Earth Day Aloha ‘Aina
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Students from SEEQS, Iolani, and Kaimuki High School divided up to clean varying sections of the Manoa-Palolo stream that runs through their school campuses on Earth Day 2018. The day’s hard work resulted in: removal of 19 invasive fish, return of 44 native fish, 700lbs of trash removed, 20+ truck bed loads of invasive green waste removed, and native ‘ae’ae and akulikuli plants sown. (Ronen Zilberman photos)
Honolulu VibesPhoto Ronen Zilberman
Each year around Oahu private citizens, communities, schools, and non-profits come together to malama the ‘Aina. A multitude of projects are organized to clean streams, parks, and beaches for each ahupua’a (a segmented section of land stretching from the mountains to the ocean) so there are plenty of opportunities to choose from, for those looking to get involved.
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A Brief History of Earth Day

The first Earth Day was put into action in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a Senator from Wisconsin at the time. Senator Nelson was concerned over increasing environmental deterioration and after witnessing an oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA, he became inspired to act on those concerns.  Senator Nelson wanted to harness the enthusiasm and high energy of the anti-war movements happening on college campuses across the nation at the time. He put a team together consisting of other political colleagues and young activists to create on-campus teach-ins. They chose the date of April 22, between spring break and final exams in order to maximize student participation.

The movement brought together other organizations, that had been fighting environmental causes individually, around a common theme that would help raise awareness for the benefit of all. The concept was a success mobilizing 20 million Americans in it’s first year to call out for action on behalf of planet Earth. By 1990 the movement became a global event growing to include 200 million people worldwide from 141 countries and by 2010 the Earth Day movement had engaged 75,000 global partnerships across 192 countries. April 22, 2020 marked the 50th year anniversary of the annual event and its first global all digital mobilization, due to COVID-19 lock-downs and social distancing implementations. For 24 hours the digital landscape was flooded with live streamed discussions, calls to action, performances, video teach-ins and more. Check out earthday.org to find out more and see what’s happening across our global communities.

 Earth Day on Oahu

The entire month of April is dedicated to Earth Day inspired events on Oahu. A quick google search will bring you a trove of happenings that you can join. Check non-profit organizations, the City & County of Honolulu website, and many of the local attraction businesses like the Waikiki Aquarium and Bishop Museum. Many public and private schools host clean-up and beautification activities as well. Being that our island communities are surrounded by water a lot of the local activities are focused around water quality and best management practices.
No matter what event you choose to get involved with the rewards will be great. The early morning protests of my own children gave way once they got busy and experienced the immediate gratification from pulling plastics and other trash out of the stream by their school. They even discovered that native fish species outnumbered the amount of invasive fish species for the first time since they began monitoring the stream (69% native, yay!)  It’s critical that we involve our youth in building awareness of how and why we should care for our environment. They will benefit or suffer from the choices and the actions we take now. Surely, we can all find the time even if only once a month or a few times a year, to participate in community efforts that Aloha ‘Aina!
Students from SEEQS, Iolani, Kaimuki High School, and community members join together to clean trash, debris, and invasive plants from the Manoa-Palolo stream in Honolulu, HiI, April 22, 2018.

Students from SEEQS (School for Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability) join with, Iolani & Kaimuki High School students, and community members to clean a portion of the Manoa-Palolo stream bed a part of the greater Ala Wai Watershed, in Waikiki & Honolulu. (Ronen Zilberman photo)

 

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by Erica McMillan

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