Sign up now for our “Backyard Composting: Nature’s Recycling” workshop at Pearl City Urban Garden Center on August 11th!  This FREE beginner workshop teaches you how to turn yard trimmings and food scraps into soil enriching compost.  Learn the basics, familiarize yourself with the tools and find out what type of backyard system is best for you through this interactive demonstration.  More workshops to come!

Composting improves soil fertility, texture, structure, aeration, water holding capacity and erosion control.  It also stimulates healthy root development and decreases the volume of our waste stream.

Call now for FREE registration: 453-6050.  For more information visit www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ougc/

 

    

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Take advantage of these upcoming events to drop off your difficult to recycle items like e-waste, batteries, used cooking oil and more.  Find full list of acceptable items and 2018 schedules at Opala.org.

Going Green: 9:00am-1:00pm

August 4 at Leilehua High School

August 10 at Dept. of Accounting & General Services (9:00-11:00, e-waste and batteries only)

August 25 at Puuhale Elementary

September 8 at Pearl City High School

September 15 at Central Union Church

September 22 at Kaimuki High School

Aloha Aina: 9:00am-12:00pm

August 18 at Sunset Beach Elementary

September 8 at University Labratory School

September 22 at Waipahu High School

Connect with us on social media!  As we increase our community engagement, stay tuned for upcoming events as well as useful opala tips, resources and service alerts.

Like and share the Refuse Division’s Facebook page (HNL.Opala) at facebook.com/HNL.Opala/ and follow the Department of Environmental Services on Twitter (@HNL_ENV) at twitter.com/hnl.env.

      

Soon, it’ll become even more important to remember to Bring Your Own (reusable) Bags because you’ll be able to save some money at the checkout counter.  Beginning July 1, 2018, retail stores across Oahu are required to charge a minimum of 15 cents per bag they provide to customers to transport merchandise.  This amendment to the Plastic Bag Ban was signed into law by Mayor Caldwell in July 2017.

For the next year and a half, the types of acceptable bags – Compostable Plastic, Recyclable Paper or Reusable – will remain the same, as will the list of “exempted” uses.  However, come January 1, 2020, plastic film bags thinner than 10 mils and compostable plastic bags will no longer be acceptable.   Ultimately, the goal is to motivate customers to use their own reusable bags when they shop, which should reduce the amount of bags in our waste stream and the potential for them to become littered into the environment.  More information at Opala.org.

Pick up a “Bring Your Own Bag!” sticker as a reminder to pack your reusable shopping bags when heading to the store.  Stickers are available at Foodland and Times stores, Yamashiro’s Building Supply (Ace Hardware) Kaneohe, and coming soon to Don Quijote and Marukai.

Seats are still available for the May 17 Tour de Trash: Construction and Demolition Recycling.  Sign up now to see first-hand how companies give C&D material a second life by transforming it into new, usable forms. The tour and transportation are completely FREE. We will begin and end at Kapolei Hale. Call 768-3200 to sign up.

At PVT Landfill, the majority of incoming C&D waste is separated and processed for reuse or recycling. Up to 900 tons of debris is processed each day to become feed stock to produce natural gas.  The natural gas can then be used as fuel to generate electricity.

Learn how Island Demo deconstructs buildings, recycles the metals, and cleans and grinds concrete to be used as aggregate. Their specialized techniques allow them to salvage as much as possible from demolition sites in order to recycle and reuse the material and keep waste out of our landfill.  West Oahu Aggregate takes debris and recycles them into a variety of material for different uses. Dirt is turned into quality top soil, rocks are crushed and made suitable for wall building and concrete and asphalt are used for aggregate. They also produce and deliver their own recycled, ready mix concrete.

Upcoming tours also include Green Business on June 13, Wastewater Treatment on July 26 and Recyclers and Waste Processors on September 15. Call 768-3200 to sign up or visit www.opala.org for more information on the full 2018 schedule.

Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s season finale, SHOCKA: the Story of Energy and Hawaii, is a sci-fi rock musical sure to entertain and educate audiences of all ages.  SHOCKA is an original production that focuses on Hawaii’s clean energy future. Topics include how the 3 R’s can help save energy and fuel, and the different types of renewable energies that power Hawaii’s electrical grid, like H-POWER! SHOCKA will have audiences dancing in their seats while transforming them into the Energy Stars our future needs!

The City & County of Honolulu is proud to partner with HTY in this production alongside community organizations: Blue Planet Foundation, The Foster Family, Hawaii Electric Light, Hawaiian Electric Industries Charitable Foundation, Hawaii Energy, Hawaii State Department of Health, Johnson Ohana Foundation, Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Ulupono Initiative. With SHOCKA, experts from each organization have come together to advise on how this performance can best portray our path to cleaner energy. This project in many ways exemplifies the collaborative approach that will be necessary to achieve Hawaii’s renewable energy goals.

Opening night: Friday, April 13 at 7:00 pm

Saturdays: April 14-May 12 at 4:30 pm.

ASL Interpretation: Saturday, May 5 at 11:00 am.

School Performances:  April 9-May 25

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 9:30 & 11:00 am
• Wednesdays: 9:00 & 10:30 am

For weekday school performances, contact HTY School Reservations Manager, Stu Hirayama, at schools@htyweb.org or call 839-9885 ext.701.  Online tickets and more information at www.htyweb.org.