Posted on: Monday, November 29, 2004

For the Environment

Advertiser Staff

POUHALA MARSH RESTORATION The Hawai'i Nature Center is cleaning up and restoring the marsh, the largest remaining wetland habitat at Pearl Harbor. Volunteers are needed to pull pickleweed from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Bring work gloves, water, hat, sunscreen, towel and change of clothes; covered footwear and long pants required. To sign up, call Pauline Kawamata at 955-0100, ext. 18.

GIVE PEACE GARDEN A CHANCE Volunteers of all ages are welcome to plant native plants and maintain grounds at the Millennium Peace Garden from 3 to 6 p.m. Dec. 11. The garden is at the corner of 18th Avenue and Diamond Head Road, across from Bark Park. Materials will be provided, but volunteers should wear shoes. For more information, e-mail peacegarden@gmail.com or call Sean Casey at 780-7326.

ALA WAI CLEANUP Help the Sierra Club make the harbor a point of pride and foster sea life by using scoopers and nets to gather up flotsam and jetsam. Volunteers should meet at 8 a.m. Dec. 11 at the Harbor Master's Office. Wear sturdy shoes with gripping soles and bring a hat, thick rubber gloves, sunscreen and water. Call Deborah Blair at 737-0168.

GREEN NOTES

HOLIDAY PLANT SALE The Lyon Arboretum Association's Annual Holiday Plant and Craft Sale will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Manoa Elementary School. Two new 'ohi'a plants will be introduced: the red-and-yellow Queen Lili'uokalani, and the maroon-and-orange Sleeping Beauty. For more information, call 988-0464.

OCEAN VIEW COMPOSTING CLASS Recycle Hawai'i will present a composting workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Ocean View Community Center in Ocean View. A free Presto Composter will be given to participating families. To register, call (808) 969-2012.

'BOTTLE BILL' PRACTICE Hawai'i County will hold "practice" beverage container redemption events to familiarize the public with the state's new "bottle bill." People will be able to redeem their eligible containers for 5 cents each, with or without the "HI 5 Cents" label. There is a $10 limit per transaction, while funds last. The East Hawai'i redemption events will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Kea'au Transfer Station; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at the UH-Hilo library lanai; and 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hilo Transfer Station. The West Hawai'i events will take place during the week of Dec. 6 at two sites: the Kealakehe Transfer Station, where beverage containers will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 7:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday; and the new recycling center above the Kona Police Station, where containers can be redeemed from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

AMNESTY FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE Big Island residents can dispose of household hazardous waste products from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hilo Transfer Station and Dec. 11 at the Kealakehe Transfer Station. Acceptable materials include automotive fluids, all types of batteries, corrosives, mercury thermometers, oil-based paints and stains, solvents and thinners, garden supplies, poisons, and miscellaneous hazardous household chemicals. For more information, call the county recycling coordinator at (808) 961-8942.

TOUR DE TRASH Sign up for a Tour de Trash bus tour of O'ahu's trashier side, provided by the city's Refuse Division. The Recycling and Waste Processors tour, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 11, starts and finishes at Kapolei Hale and visits the H-Power waste-to-energy plant, the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, Hawaiian Earth Products, Hawai'i Metal Recycling, and Lenox Metals. Participants must show up 15 minutes prior to departure time. Call 692-5410 to register; for tour schedules and details, check the Web at www.opala.org/recycling_businesses/Tour_de_trash_2004.html.

FREE MULCH ON BIG ISLAND Help yourself to free mulch from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily at a new public pick-up area adjacent to the Kealakehe Transfer Station, or from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Hilo Transfer Station. The county Department of Environmental Management sponsors the free mulch program. Loading assistance is available only at the Hilo location, at a cost of $10 to $40 depending on vehicle size. Deliveries of large truckloads of mulch to homes, businesses or farms can be arranged by calling the Big Island recycling representative at (808) 306-1876.

For a free listing of your environmental event, send details to For the Environment, P.O. Box 156, Wailuku, HI 96793; fax (808) 242-1520; or e-mail cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.