Earth Day 2017 is on Saturday, April 22. There will be lots of fun, family friendly Earth Day events in Hawaii to celebrate and raise the awareness of environmental preservation. We will be adding more events to this list, as information becomes available. If you know of an Earth Day event that’s not listed, please let us know and we will be happy to add it!

Oahu

Waikīkī Beach Clean-Up
Cost: FREE: Validated Self Parking at the Hyatt Regency for Beach Clean Up participants.
FREE Continental Breakfast provided
When: APRIL 22, 2017 Saturday 7am – 9am
Where: Meet at Dukeʻs Statue Kūhio Beach Park in Waikiki
More info

Mauna to Makai Earth Day at Waikiki Aquarium
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22, 9am-2pm (Free Admission!)
Location: The Waikiki Aquarium
Description: Guests will take part in interactive booths, entertainment and a variety of hands-on learning activities and displays that showcase preservation and protection of Hawaii’s environment. Among the activities will be a fish release and native plant giveaway. More info

VSH Earth Day Celebration
Cost: FREE
When: April 22, 1-6pm
Where: Banan
1810 University Ave.
Honolulu, HI
Description: Vegetarian Society of Hawaii event with lots of live music, t-shirt giveaways, special speakers/presentations, plant sale, delicious treats, fundraiser, and more. More info

Plant it Forward 2.0
Cost: $5 donation. Snacks and water provided.
When: Sat, April 22, 2017. 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Where: KEY Project
47-200 Waihee Road
Kaneohe, HI 96744
Description: Learn and Help Restore the Waihe‘e Lo‘i. Join us for our Earth Day service project torestore the Waihe‘e Lo‘i and learn about the history and importance the lo‘i plays in our current local culture.
More info: Society of Young Leaders

Earth Day After pARTy!
Cost: $10 donation
When: Sat, April 22, 2017, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: Arts At Marks Garage
1159 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817
Join us for an engaging night of art, activism & environment gathered around the idea that we can create progressive positive change through passion, creativity & activated community! More info

Earth Day at the North Shore Country Market
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22 at 8 AM – 2 PM
Where: Sunset Beach Elementary School
59360 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712
Description: Live music, Yoga, community plant and seed swap. The market will have produce, flowers jewelry, art, kids clothes, succulents, jard drinks, healing ointments, photos, and much more. Everything is made in Hawaii. More info

Optimysstique Earth Day (North Shore)
Cost: Donation
When: Saturday, April 22. 10 AM – 9 PM
Where: YMCA Camp Erdman
Mokuleia Forest Reserve, 69-385 Farrington Hwy, Waialua, HI 96791
Description: Hosted by Optimysstique. Live music, djs, yoga, bodywork, clothing swap, seed swap, vendor village, and more. More info

Big Island (Hawaiʻi)

Earth Day 2017 Fair & Conservation Career Day
Cost: FREE
When: Friday, April 21^st, 2017 • 9am – 2pm
Where: University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
200 W. Kāwili Street

Description: “2017 Earth Day celebration boasts educational videos, informational exhibits and science demonstrations, expert guest speakers, a food sustainability panel, environmental science skill-building workshops, marine touch-tanks, dance troupes, HICCUP Circus performance, hula, storytellers, face-painting, campus garden tours, an environmental career fair, unmanned aerial vehicle flight simulators, and many other engaging activities. Free plants, fruits, and other giveaways will be available throughout the day.” – Source: http://hilo.hawaii.edu/earthfair/

Maui

West Maui Greenway Earth Day 2017 Celebration
Cost: FREE
When: Saturday, April 22 at 9 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: Lahaina Civic Center
Phone: (808) 661-4685
Website: http://www.westmauigreenway.org/events.html

Description: First kick-off event to help raise awareness for the West Maui Greenway project, a proposed 25-mile, multi-use pathway along Maui’s Western shore. Lots of activities such as yoga, hula, keiki activities, arts, Greenway exploration rides, and music entertainment.

Save Kapiolani Park

Kapiolani Park is the oldest and the largest public park in Hawaii. It’s enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people each year both locals and tourists alike for family recreation, sports, picnics, community events, and much more. The 300-acre (1.2 km²) Kapiolani park is a gorgeous public park right next to the busy touristy Waikiki district on the island of Oahu. It’s home to the Honolulu Zoo, the Waikiki Shell performance arena, and it’s adjacent to some of the most popular beaches in Hawaii.

Kapiolani Park sign posted: “Field Closed, No Practice, No Games” Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. September 2014

Recently it was discovered that highly toxic broad-spectrum Glyphosate containing herbicides such as RoundUp and Honcho are being sprayed in Kapiolani park on a regular basis. Glyphosate was originally developed by Monsanto. After many independent studies Glyphosate has been been linked to a multitude of severe health conditions, such as: cancer, autism, DNA damage, cell damage, liver damage, and more. It’s highly toxic even in small doses when diluted to 450 times lower than what is used in agricultural applications.

These chemicals are not only toxic to humans and plants, but everything else living including: soil micro organisms, insects including pollinators such as bees and butterflies, earthworms, birds, pets, and aquatic sea life.

During application glyphosate spreads by air and wind, lurks on top of surfaces such as grass, soil, picnic tables, etc. and leaches down through the soil eventually reaching the nearby ocean. It creates invisible (to the human eye) pollution of the soil that we walk on, the air that our children breathe, and the ocean that so many enjoy.

So far there have been two community meetings with the purpose of having park officials stop spraying toxic poison in Kapiolani Park. As of now the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation and Urban Forestry Division is reluctant to stop spraying these highly toxic products in public places despite multiple expert and community testimonies.

Honolulu Park officials are saying that since the government has no legal restriction (laws) against the use of glyphosate and other highly toxic chemicals in Kapiolani park and other public places of Hawaii, therefore, it’s ok for them to keep on using them, despite the abundance of independent studies showing high toxicity of these infamous products and despite other Public Parks in mainland U.S. states having banned their use and passed laws to protect their communities.

Right now we need to create a social mass awareness about the poisoning of Kapiolani Park that’s going on since most Hawaii residents and tourists alike are completely unaware of glyphosate use in Hawaii public parks. We need to tell our families, our neighbors, coworkers, and friends about this situation to create mass awareness, which would create social change.

Take Action! If you’re NOT OK with Honolulu park officials spraying toxic chemicals in Kapiolani park and other Hawaii public parks you need to email, call, send fax, or write a letter to:

Department of Parks and Recreation
Michele K. Nekota, Director
Jeanne C. Ishikawa, Deputy Director

1000 Uluohia Street, Suite 309
Kapolei, Hawaii 96707
Phone:(808) 768-3003
Fax: (808) 768-3053
Email: parks@honolulu.gov

You can also contact your local political and community leaders and ask them to support banning the use of toxic chemicals in Hawaii public places including public parks such as Kapiolani. Also, come to the 3rd Meeting (to be announced) to voice your support for chemical free parks in Hawaii.

You don’t have to write or say a lot if you don’t want to. For example (you can even copy/paste/adapt the text below):

Sample letter A

Aloha (name of person you’re contacting),

I’m not OK with Honolulu Public Park officials using toxic chemicals in Kapiolani Park and other public places. Please stop immediately. These chemicals are toxic to the Hawaiian ecosystem and have been scientifically linked to many severe health problems in humans.

Mahalo,

(your name)

Sample letter B

Aloha Dear Michele K. Nekota and Jeanne C. Ishikawa,

Please, take necessary steps ASAP to stop using glyphosate and any other harmful highly toxic products such as Monsanto’s RoundUp and Honcho in public parks. These chemicals put the people of Hawaii health at risk and pollute the environment. These are very toxic chemicals and we the people of Hawaii demand ban on their use. There have already been two meetings on this issue at Kapiolani Park. There’s overwhelming evidence that these chemicals damage DNA, reproductive damage, cause cancer, autism, and the list goes on. They are highly toxic. If you really care about people’s health and the Aina, then please take action immediately to address this major issue.

Sincerely,

(optional: who you are: examaple: Waikiki resident, Hawaii parks user, community gardener, attorney, doctor, police officer, engineer, etc.)

(your name)

Mahatma Gandhi and International Day of Nonviolence

GIIP invites you to celebrate the 145th birthday and Hawaii’s 9th Annual Celebration, of one of the world’s great leaders, Mahatma Gandhi. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through vast non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the most important political and spiritual leaders of his time. The event includes an interfaith discussion for world peace, multicultural dances, and music by the Royal Hawaiian Band.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2014 ~ 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

WHERE: Outside the Honolulu Zoo in front of the Gandhi Statue

(Located between Diamond Head and Waikiki at the corner of Kapahulu Ave and Kalakaua Ave. The Zoo parking lot entrance is on Kapahulu Ave and is metered parking. The Waikiki Shell parking lot across the screet on Monsarrat Ave has free parking.)

For any questions, contact Raj Kumar, Ph.D., President at: cosmicyoga@yahoo.com

Note:

We suggest participants wear white comfortable attire during this event. Also, please bring sitting mats or chairs.

Volunteers and donations appreciated.

source: http://www.gandhianpeace.com/