Hilo/ Hawaiʻi County
Hilo at a Glance
As an island community, the residents of Hilo and Hawai'i County are on the front-lines of pollution from single-use disposable items, while also shouldering the double burden of paying more to get these items to the island and then paying more to 'dispose' of them. In this multicultural community that is home to many native Hawaiians, reuse resonates on multiple levels and across generations. Perpetual is partnering with Zero Waste Hawai'i Island to facilitate a community-driven process to design and implement a reusable foodware program in Hilo, eventually expanding to serve all of Hawai'i County. Through this process, Perpetual and ZWHI are enabling this community to realize their vision of a healthy, sustainable, inclusive reuse system.
Population: 44,000
Food Service Establishments: 200+
Educational Institutions: University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Hawaiʻi Community College, and the Hilo and Waiakea primary and secondary school districts
Local water bodies and marine protected areas: Pacific Ocean and near the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Other commitments: Hawai’i nearly passed an Extended Producer Responsibility bill that would fund reuse infrastructure. (2022)
Local Partners
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Jennifer Navarra
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi island -
K. Kuulei Kanahele
OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island -
Ellen Okuma
RESEARCH SUPPORT & COMMUNITY LIAISON
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island -
TallChief Comet
SUSTAINABILITY ADVISOR EMERITUS
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island -
Devin Brown
UH HILO
BONNER STUDENT INTERN
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island -
Yuko Cary
Graphic Designer
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island -
Paul Martin
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SPECIALIST
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island
Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island’s (ZWHI) mission is to connect diverse Hawaiʻi Island Communities to support equitable systems redesign and policy change to achieve zero waste. They achieve this through four key programs: Advocacy & Policy, Waste Prevention, Coalition Building, and Education and Outreach. ZWHI, now fiscally sponsored, started their journey in 2019 as a community group that hosted monthly community meetings, did outreach at community events, and advocated at the county level to improve Hawai’i Island’s waste management systems. It was through this work that they came to understand that as individuals, we have little control over the waste we generate, and that living a “zero waste” lifestyle was only accessible to the privileged few that have the financial resources, time, knowledge, and desire to achieve this goal.
They soon shifted their focus to advocate for system level changes to address Hawaiʻi Islands’ waste problem. In the last two years their focus has been to pass a state level policy to encourage large producers to reduce packaging waste, as well as working with county government, businesses, and communities to design systems that reduce packaging waste through reuse. In 2022, they launched the NO POHŌ pilot project to reuse refillable glass beverage bottles for businesses in Hilo. NO POHŌ is currently working with a locally-owned business, The Locavore Store, which purchases from Hawai'i Island farmers and ranchers to help support increased food security.
Community-Driven Design Process
Zero Waste Hawai’i Island, with support from Perpetual, will be facilitating a Community-Driven Design Process to give Hilo community members the opportunity to shape the reusable foodware system. The overall project and a preview of the process were provided on a webinar on April 27th with local business and nonprofit leaders, who provided their input on how to plan the community design process. You can view the video of the webinar here and see the slide presentation here.
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In-Person Community-Led Design Workshops
During the week of October 23, Perpetual, alongside Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island (ZWHI), the Circularity Informatics Lab (CIL) from the University of Georgia, and other esteemed volunteers, met with more than 275 participants in Hilo to gather feedback on the design of a new reusable foodware system for Hilo. Feedback was gathered through interactive workshops that were advertised broadly throughout the Hilo community and open to the general public. Participants included business owners, political representatives, houseless and underserved individuals, high school and college students, faculty and staff, and families in communities that are densely populated by Native Hawaiians.
A few examples of what we heard and learned
“When I first moved to Hawaiʻi, I had an Aunty tell me that when you go into the land you always ask for permission before you take something. Itʻs about having mutual respect and appreciation. We are actually connected with the land and environment. Honoring the connection we have with the land around us by thinking of ways we can care for it, live in more harmony with it, and doing simple things like having a recycling program or a program where we can reuse products and itʻs easy and accessible, itʻs a way for us to care for our environment.”
— Community Workshop Participant
“We really need a program like this in Hilo. We don’t have statewide recycling anymore unfortunately. Let’s have programs like this and create ways to have reusable system in Hilo. It is great for the community, it creates jobs, and is great for the environment. “ — Community Workshop Participant
“I learned that all of our waste goes to one landfill, i thought that was pretty shocking since we dont have plans for a new one. I think implementing this would be great, would reduce use of disposables, and provide better beverage containers in general.” — Community Workshop Participant
Stakeholder Meeting
A full house of stakeholders from local government, businesses, and community organizations came together in Hilo and via Zoom on October 26, 2023, to learn about and share manaʻo on efforts to design and implement a reusable foodware system in Hilo that aims to eliminate the generation of waste from disposable drinking cups and takeout containers. Check out the recording from the hybrid meeting below!
Hilo Reusable Foodware System Design
The System Design document was created based on the engagement with the community, partners, and a public review period with two phases. This document specifies how the system will work and what is needed for it to operate.
This reuse system will be operated by a Reuse Service Provider that has not yet been selected. Perpetual, Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island, Hawaiʻi County, and the University of Hawaiʻi’s Sea Grant College Program will work with the selected provider up to and beyond system launch to ensure the program is successful.
The implementation of the reuse system in Hilo is supported by two EPA grants - a SWIFR grant for $1.5M awarded to Hawaiʻi County, and a Pollution Prevention grant for $622,000 awarded to the University of Hawaiʻi. Additionally, Perpetual is able to work on this project and to support Zero Waste Hawaiʻi Island’s staff time thanks to generous funding from The Walmart Foundation, the 11th Hour Project (a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation), The Plastic Solutions Fund, the Overbrook Foundation, and individuals who share our passion for creating new solutions.
Check out the Hilo newsletter archive here.