Public Invited to “Help Keep the Sea Plastic Free”

Water bottle filling station. Photo Courtesy: DLNR.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources is hosting a free event in an effort to encourage the public to use plastic free bottles.

Last year, the DLNR Division of State Parks was awarded a grant to install 19 water bottle filling stations on Hawai’i Island, Maui, O’ahu and Kaua’i. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of single-use plastic water bottles that park visitors use during their visits to state parks.

Five additional water bottle filling stations will be installed on Hawaiʽi Island: three in Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area (two at Hāpuna Beach and one at Waialea Bay), one in the Maniniʽōwali section of Kekaha Kai State Park (more commonly known as Kua Bay), and one in Kealakekua Bay Historical Park.

The “Help Keep the Sea Plastic Free” event will be held on Nov. 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wailea Center in Hilo, which also recently installed a bottle filling station.

This event will include educational booths and art activities using marine debris collected at Kamilo Point. Join with State Parks, Hawaiʽi Nei, Hawaiʽi Island Art Alliance, DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources Marine Wildlife Program, Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, and Hawaiʽi Wildlife Fund to learn why we should all reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse single-use plastics in our daily lives, starting with using refillable water bottles.