EDITORIAL
One EPA effort we can get behind

Illegal dumpers, consider yourselves warned. Environmental protection agents are keeping an eye on you. Why, they may even be your very own kids.

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, Kama'aina Kids, a statewide nonprofit child-care program, is sending out 1,000 afterschool-care students with cameras to document illegal dumping grounds and educate the public about why it's unfriendly to the Earth. And who better to spread the message than young people whose lives — and futures — depend on clean water and clean air?

At their swearing-in ceremony last week, more than two dozen students from Enchanted Lake Elementary pledged to care for the Earth and report dumping violations to a new city hot line, according to Advertiser Windward O'ahu writer Eloise Aguiar.

Training activities include clean-ups and education such as stenciling storm drains to warn would-be polluters that what goes down the drain ends up in the ocean.

As we've said before, illegal dumping is frequently carried out under the cover of dark or in remote areas that are not patrolled by police or nosy neighbors. So it's not easy to catch them in the act.

In many cases, they're inspired by laziness or stinginess. They don't want to pay dumping fees or haul their rubbish too far. So we're pleased to hear that the city has agreed to extend hours at the transfer station on Kapa'a Quarry Road.

We hope the sight of children armed with cameras on the lookout for environmental crime will motivate adults to do the right thing.

After all, every day should be Earth Day in Hawai'i.