 Welcome to At the Crossroads special edition. I am your host Keisha King and today I'm really excited to be here and just share with you all something that is very very important to all of us here at the Crossroads and all of us here on the island and that is sustaining our coastlines. That's right we are talking about all the rubbish that you see that is out there all on our beaches all along the shore and deep down in the ocean. We're gonna talk about that today. Today we have with us a very special guest who this issue is very important to her. We have with us Rachel Raelle. Welcome to At the Crossroads Rachel. Thank you Keisha excited to be here. Awesome it's wonderful to have you. So in lieu of you being here in the office with us or in the studio with us you are somewhere very important to getting ready for something that we are going to talk about today that is happening and that is the town beach cleanup at Magic Island. Is that right? Yes thank you it is. So tomorrow morning we're gonna be cleaning up Magic Island Beach Park with the entire sustainable coastline Hawaii volunteer crew and anyone and everyone is welcome. Wait stop right there anyone and everyone is welcome and that's the point we want to make clear to all of our viewers if you're watching this you don't have to have any special qualifications am I right Rachel? Absolutely we have volunteers of all different kinds come out to help us no matter what works for you we're able to get you involved and help give back to our coastline. Amazing so this is an opportunity to give back tell us exactly what is sustainable coastline Hawaii what do you all do to help our coastlines and then we'll come back and talk some more about what's happening tomorrow. Absolutely so sustainable coastline Hawaii is a nonprofit organization we are run by an amazing team of volunteers and only three full-time staff but we're all about inspiring local communities to care for their coastlines we do that through hands-on beach cleanups education programs and waste management services to help people reduce their waste in the first place. Okay so how long has sustainable health Hawaii I'm sorry sustainable coastline Hawaii been in existence? Since 2011 but it started with just a group of friends in their living room wanting to do a beach cleanup and give back and now it's grown to a global network of people. Okay wonderful so with this how is it global if we're focused here on Hawaii what's happening in all the other places? Our message is global so we connect with people from all over the world sharing the story of Hawaii because we live in a really interesting place and a place where the Pacific gyre unleashes tons of plastic pollution upon our islands and we have a really interesting narrative to share to show the world what's happening to our marine ecosystems so we connect with people from all different countries we've had an educational program tour the west coast of the United States and we want to help everyone understand how your consumer choices anywhere in the world impact us over here and the oceans in at large. Okay so now since 2011 you all have been doing this what has been the effect what are the results that you've accomplished thus far? Since 2011 we have removed over 400,000 pounds of marine plastic debris from our coastlines but that's not really the most important part about our organization the most important part is that we have educated tens of thousands of students about plastic pollution and how to take steps to reduce it in their own lives and in their communities. Rachel we were just looking at a picture of some of the pollution that is left on the beach and when I tell you it's really really it's amazing and it's kind of gross I'm looking at just irresponsibility it looks like a picture we just saw was a cup of ramen noodles we saw the bottled water empty and just all sorts of other plastic and rubbish is that what you all often see is that normal? Yeah so it depends on what side of our islands you're on but for instance our cleanup tomorrow in town we're gonna be focusing on a lot of rubbish that comes from land so a lot of that stuff is things that people may throw in the trash can but when trash cans are overflowing the wind takes it away and it gets on to the shorelines some of it's just carelessness but a lot of the time it's people trying to do the right thing and throw their rubbish away but it doesn't always make it to wherever away is. Okay if you go to the east sides of our islands you'll find the marine plastic that washes up from the Pacific Jire and that's a totally different type of debris coming from all over the world not just Hawaii. Okay so now explain to us the process of what happens when the rubbish is out there because I think that you make a really good point to say that people try one thing I noticed about Hawaii beaches we do have a lot of rubbish cans all over so I and I if they're overflowing a lot of times that's because people are doing the right thing by throwing away the item but as you said sometimes the wind takes it and blows it away so what happens when that plastic goes into the water can you talk to us about the life cycle of the plastic and the effect that it has on the on our animals in the water? Yeah so plastic never breaks down it's not an organic material it breaks up into smaller fragments because it gets photo degraded by the Sun and these small fragments of plastic are really toxic just as plastic but they also bind to persistent organic pollutants in the ocean so for example agricultural runoff when animals eat plastic the toxins from the runoff and the plastic itself accumulate in the animals tissues and sometimes it kills the animal just to be eating plastic rather than a nutritional food source. Likewise entanglement is a big issue because a lot of the plastic debris in our oceans are ghost nets and fishing gear. Now I'm sorry to interrupt you but I will say I did I remember watching one of the movies maybe it was Happy Feet where the animal got entangled in like a six-pack wrapper and is that the type of entanglement that you're speaking of now or is it something worse? I would say it's a little bit worse out there those derelicts we call them derelict fishing net or ghost fishing net and they can be quite large and sometimes many animals can get caught up in them. I see and so these fisher fishing nets are placed there by mistake they're forgotten or they're just left there what where do they come from? A lot of them come from international fisheries and sometimes they're cut off and go over board because they get tangled or they get lost or you know we don't know the story of each individual one but it's something we're hoping to learn more and more about. Okay all right so the animals are I interrupted you so forgive me but the animals are there they get tangled up in the plastic they get tangled up in the fishing nets then what happens? I mean hopefully they can make it out but it doesn't always happen that way you know a lot of the times we'll find turtles here in Hawaii with you know small pieces of plastic wrapped around their neck fishing line all kinds of things but then animals ingesting plastic is a really big problem too. Right so somewhere along the lines I read that we might have more plastic in our oceans by the year 2030 than we do actual live animals have you heard that? I have heard that and it's a really scary statistic. It is it is so what you're doing is fighting against that. We are fighting against that but I always like to make sure that everyone understands or all the people we work with understand that it's not about cleaning up the beach if you had bathtub that was overflowing you wouldn't start bailing out the bathwater with a cup you would turn off the tap right? Right. So the idea behind what the work that we do is trying to educate people about using less plastic not only just you know in your own personal consumer choices but also pressuring your local legislature and big companies to stop producing so much of the stuff in the first place. Okay so now does your organization have lobbyists or those who speak on behalf of because I know we just passed the law with regard to plastic bags what are you all doing in that regard? Yes so representatives from our organization always go and testify and we also encourage a lot of our volunteers and followers to testify at their local legislature as well. I think that community voice is really important and people just need to be engaged and show up. So be engaged show up let your voice be heard and then show up tomorrow. So now let's talk about the things we need to bring or things we need to wear in order to be ready for the big cleanup at Magic Island. Yeah so tomorrow we are we've got everything covered in terms of beach cleanup supplies. We use reusable bags reusable gloves all you need to do is show up. I would recommend bringing some reef safe sun protection and a reusable water bottle because we'll have water refill stations. We're gonna be providing lunch and we're gonna have music played by Noa Lani Love in her band and games for the kids. So this is for all ages doesn't matter your ability level. Absolutely everyone is welcome our events are community family friendly and we try to make them as fun as possible. Okay fantastic so now you have children you have adults older adults middle age it doesn't matter everyone but why the food why the music why the game. So we can get people to come volunteer on a Saturday. There you go. Our team is a core team of you know 50 plus volunteers and we're like a big family we're all about having fun because this issue can be a little bit depressing sometimes but we try to make it as light of it as we can. Yeah yeah and I ask that question facetiously because I understand why I know the importance first of all if you're gonna get anyone to do any work on a Saturday morning you better entice them with something and so yeah food helps everything and certainly music and games but I love what you're saying it's a family activity it's something everyone can get involved in anyone can do this and it's not just about the cleanup so we're going to take a very quick break and we're going to come back talk to you a little bit more about cleaning up Magic Island Saturday June 22nd we're going to talk about the time too I think we need to be there at least by 845 if I'm not mistaken so we'll be right back after this. Aloha I'm Yukari Kunisue the host of Konnichiwa Hawaii Japanese talk show on Think Tech Hawaii. Konnichiwa Hawaii is all Japanese broadcast show and it's streamed live on Think Tech at 2 p.m. every other Monday. Thank you so much for watching our show we look forward to seeing you then I'm Yukari Kunisue mahalo. Aloha I am Howard Wigg I am the proud host of cold green for Think Tech Hawaii I appear every other Monday at three and I have really really exciting guests on the exciting topic of energy efficiency hope to see you there. Thank you for watching at the Crossroads you've been with me Keisha King your host and Rachel Raelle we've been talking about sustainable coastlines Hawaii and we have a wonderful wonderful event have you ever wanted to volunteer to do something for Hawaii for our islands for the state just to make you feel good well we have that opportunity you will have that opportunity this weekend if you're looking for something to do June 22nd you have a great opportunity to work with sustainable coastlines Hawaii as they are preparing for another town cleanup Oahu Magic Island Beach Park Saturday June 22nd 2019 the check-in time is at 9 a.m. and they will have music food games for the kids everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to come out and to have a great time for a worthy cause this nonprofit organization does good work and they have a global message Rachel can you tell us about some of your sponsors that are helping to support this event for tomorrow absolutely we're very lucky to have some wonderful sponsors such as Honolulu GMC all-good sunscreen outrigger hospitality group 1-800 gotcha Harley for the ocean and Hawaii Tourism Authority we're very lucky to have these sponsors they help make these events a possibility wonderful now as far as the music is concerned can you remind us who the musicians are yes no Alani love and her fans will be playing live music from 12 to 1 12 to 1 and then the food who's sponsoring the food is it potluck and what do you think what are you anticipating is on the menu yes so we have food donated from barn to barn cafe that's located in Haleva they are going to be donating some quinoa salad for us wonderful wonderful I love that place I've been only once so this gives me an opportunity to have their meal again so that will be great and what types of games will you have we're going to be painting buoys that wash up here on our shores with all kinds of colors and paints and kids are welcome to paint their own and take it home wonderful now I noticed one of your sponsors is 1-800 God junk I've seen them around are you using their receptacles for the rubbish or is there something else you'll be doing yes so they're helping us pick up and remove the rubbish from the site we always sort the rubbish that we get from our cleanup so we'll be separating what is recyclable and then the rest will go to H Power wonderful that's amazing it's great work that you all are doing we're so grateful that you all are out there and I just can't wait to see it all come to pass it sounds like you get started around 9 and what time do you conclude for the day yes so the cleanup check-in starts at 9 we'll be done cleaning at around 11 30 and then the cleanup will be power on 1 1 30 okay we also have some shuttles coming from the beach clover by Outrigger and the Sheraton white piece starting at 845 in the morning so if you're staying in a hotel in Waikiki or say you live in Waikiki and want to hop on a shuttle you can go ahead and do that at 845 or 915 okay we have plenty of water because it's been record-breaking heat here lately heat and humidity yes we have low water sponsoring refillable water stations for the event okay fantastic well we have a lot of great things happening with this entire event how many of these have you done across Hawaii already oh goodness so many each year we do about 10 large-scale cleanup oh wow every year since 2011 amazing yep that's wonderful it's amazing what how this started as just a group of friends trying to do something important and now you've turned it into this event that has been going on all over and after this one it will continue so please tell us where will you be going after the Magic Island where will you go after the Magic Island cleanup so our next cleanup is going to be in August we will be heading over to Molokai and we will be cleaning oomomi which is a very remote part of coastline on Molokai's North Shore okay all right so that's in August so there's one in the fall there's this one and then I suppose there'll be at least one more after that if I'm not mistaken correct yes we've got a few more after that we'll be back here on Oahu we'll be cleaning up the west side at Makua Beach in September that's also a really great one for families to come by we always have to teach games afterwards okay wonderful so thank you so much for taking the time to share with us I know these matters are really really important to everyone here and maybe it's not always on the forefront of everyone's mind but you're bringing awareness to stop the flow basically so thank you for that thank you for being with us today to share about it thanks for having me it's totally my pleasure Eric if you can show that flyer one more time we're going to make sure we get as many people out tomorrow as we possibly can we're talking about the town cleanup Oahu at Magic Island Beach Park this Saturday June 22nd check in starts at 9 a.m. but you will have shuttles coming from Outrigger and the Sheraton Waikiki at 8.45 you have some great sponsors excellent music food games for the kids it sounds like it's going to be a great event and very important I think it's personal fulfillment too am I mistaken is that true for you absolutely everybody feels good at the end of the day when they did something to give back to their community indeed and how long have you been with sustainable coastlines Rachel's since its inception or no I started volunteering for sustainable coastlines when I was in college in 2015 and I stuck around and ended up actually getting a job there so very lucky to call this my place of work oh wonderful good for you you are able to graduate and do something immediately with and it seems like a personal passion with what you are doing yeah absolutely wonderful well we're going to conclude for now thank you so much Rachel for your time today and we're looking forward to tomorrow and what you all are going to do thank you Keisha hope to see you there all right awesome aloha