ʻOpāla

June 2025

We’ve all been there before — staring into a moldy Tupperware we pulled out of the back corner of our fridge, like “….what even was that?” Studies show that the average family of four in the US will toss two-thousand dollars worth of groceries into the trash each year. On Kauai, 10% of what ends up in the Kekaha Landfill is food that’s taken land, water, and resources to produce. When it goes to the landfill, all that effort and all those nutrients go to waste. But what if they didn’t have to? Composting is an easy alternative to throwing food in the rubbish. When food ends up in the landfill, it decays without oxygen and releases harmful methane gas. But food that gets composted transforms into a nutrient-rich substance that can heal the soil and help grow more food. 

Kaua‘i makes composting easy — residents can get their own backyard composting bins from the County of Kauaʻi or sign up for convenient curbside pick-up and drop-off services with Compost Kauaʻi. OR contact a local farmer about giving them your scraps for compost. To learn more, visit kkcr dot org slash onair slash opala. This message is brought to you by funding from the County of Kauaʻi’s Office of Economic Development.

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Need More?

Hereʻs a sweet reference pamphlet to print out.

CTAHR has a great article on composting.

And an even bigger one, thanks, CTAHR.

Hereʻs info on that free backyard compost bin from the County of Kauaʻi.

Hawaii Wildlife Fund has info on composting with CRB.

Like Scraps? Compost Kauaʻi does.

Hereʻs the EPAʻs Food Waste Scale.

May 2025

Do YOU have a pile of green waste in your yard? It might seem harmless, but decaying plant material can attract unwanted pests — especially the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. CRB is a serious threat to our island’s coconut trees, bananas, papayas and more. CRBs love warm, decaying green waste. It’s where they grow, breed, and spread — often unnoticed.

That’s why managing green waste responsibly is one of the most important ways we can protect Kauaʻi’s plants, food systems, and cultural resources.

So that pile of green waste in your backyard – don’t let it pile up. Make sure to turn it regularly to search for pests. If you find any CRBs, sanitize the green waste as soon as possible by netting, hot-composting, or spreading the pile thinner than four inches. Once sanitized, haul those materials to one of the County’s five transfer stations.

For all you landscapers, tree trimmers, and green businesses, you can get a coupon from the Countyʻs Solid Waste Division to reduce your tipping rates. For more information and resources for treating that pile of green waste, visit Kkcr dot org slash onair slash opala.

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Need More?

Want to sign a petition to request funding from local and state government for more CRB mitigation?

Here is the Office of Economic Development’s (OED) very informative page on CRB.

CRB has itʻs own Hawaii-based web page with horrifying photos.

Here are some safe composting tips that we can all take to prevent the spread of CRB.

Here is info about netting your green waste and compost areas.

Here’s some social media accounts to follow:

Report infested trees to: @kauaiisc

Follow for updates on community action & work days: @eolakakouhawaii 

For further education on CRB: @crbhawaii

April 2025

**sound of truck backing up, beep beep, rumble of materials dumping out** Hear that?

That’s the sound of 260 tons of trash entering Kauaʻi’s landfill every day. Except not all of it is trash. In fact, 45% of what enters the landfill doesn’t have to be there. It can be composted, recycled, repaired, or repurposed. And that’s a good thing! Because the Kekaha landfill is running out of room. **gasp** Yeah. That’s the sound of someone realizing that our island’s one and only landfill will be full by 2030, which means — by the time my daughter is 5 years old, Kauaʻi will have nowhere to put its waste. I don’t want my child to grow up around piles of ʻōpala. So what do we do? Kauaʻi, it’s up to us to know our ʻōpala and do our part to make less of it. Let’s compost our food scraps, recycle our bottles, repair what’s broken, and share resources within our community instead of buying so much new. We’re so lucky to live in the most beautiful place on Earth, but if we’re not careful, the Garden Isle could become the Garbage Isle like that. 

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The Story of Stuff has some great movies to watch.

Here’s a link to the official Kaua’i Landfill page.

Kaua’i Now‘s reporting by Scott Yunker in February 2025 on the Landfill.

Here is the County’s Recycling Page.