Check made out to order X 
Address to send check: 
X

Aloha Ohana,  Due to the freeze in funding for federal grants, our Hawaiʻi youth-led, Clean Stream Campaign and Waste-to-Wealth Initiative program in Kaʻū has been suspended pending further review. In January of last year, Recycle Hawaiʻi, in partnership with the Kaʻū Global Learning Lab received a 3-year, $1.5 Million EPA Recycling Education &amp; Outreach grant. Over the past 10 months student participants in the program, turned Zero Waste Advocates and part-time employees of Recycle Hawaiʻi, have made a significant contribution to their community through their efforts to divert cafeteria waste, stage community collection events, transform waste cardboard into valuable agricultural inputs, and provide waste audit and consulting services for local events and businesses. Through the formation of their own company, Mālama ʻĀina Compostables, these students have shown how wasted resources can be used to build wealth and created a model that can be shared with schools and communities across the islands and throughout the nation.  This suspension in federal funding with over two years to go on our contract has left us all shocked and hurt. The pride the students have taken in their accomplishments and the appreciation they have received from the community provides the inspiration for this fundraising appeal. Having come this far, having learned this much, having dedicated themselves to the cause of reducing waste and building wealth through resourcefulness they don’t want to stop!  Your generous donation keeps us going! How your funds will help:<ul><li>The priority is to keep full time staff and part-time student Zero Waste Advocates employed, so they can continue providing critical waste prevention services in the Kaʻū Community until the federal funding issue is resolved and funding is restored. </li><li>Students are also aspiring to visit Kamikatsu, Japan, the world’s first Zero Waste municipality, so they can learn how the people of Kamikatsu accomplished their goals and bring that wisdom home to Kaʻū. </li><li>Additional funding will be used to cover operational costs related to the ongoing activities in Kaʻū, as well as continued networking with other schools and youth organizations with an interest in Zero Waste programming. Years two and three of the EPA program include statewide and national youth conferencing activities. Adhering to the grant schedule once funding is restored requires continued planning for these major events. </li></ul>A common question we've been hearing is what happens if the funds are restored? While we are operating on good faith that funding will be restored, we don't know how long that will take or how long it will last. The current federal administration is determined to cut funding to all Inflation Reduction Act programs, including our own EPA REO program, so any restoration of funding could be temporary until a new de-funding tactic is deployed. In the event that the funding is fully restored and no further attempts to shut down the program are made, any funding left unspent will be used to expand Recycle Hawaiʻi’s Zero Waste programs across the state.  Your donation helps us build upon what we have achieved in just 10 months: <ul><li>Diverted 6,711 lbs (and counting!) amount of waste in their cafeteria diversion program,</li><li>Rescued 665 lbs. of edible food from going to waste - diverting it to local food banks</li><li>Launched theKaʻū community collection event / Mālama ʻĀina Funday Zero Waste Education series</li><li>Swapped out 60 old refrigerators and freezers with new energy efficient models as a way to use less energy and reduce climate impacts from energy consumption, </li><li>Launched behavioral change and Zero Waste education campaigns aimed at diverting waste from landfill</li><li>Installed an in-vessel composting unit in conjunction with a waste-to-soil program</li><li>Presented at the National Recycling Congress in Cooperstown, New York</li><li>Laid the foundation for a statewide network of Zero Waste Advocates by collaborating with  other youth involved in similar programs</li><li>Introduced student program participants to the Hawaiʻi workforce through part time employment and professional development / leadership training</li></ul>Visit <a>Recyclehawaii.org</a> for more information about all the work that we do! <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/hxn9dbuhd/image/upload/v1738652055/f6wju7jcxmjwabzuhxfo.png" style="padding:0px 1px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;width:600px;display:block;vertical-align:top;margin:5px auto;text-align:center;max-width:100%" />Malama Aina Compostables Zero Waste Advocates at the National Recycling Congress with Nena Shaw - EPA Director of Resource Conservation and Sustainability

US$703.68