Davis, Kiana

Kamaka, Kama
Meleisea, Maka
Moniz, Dylan
Period 4

Hoolako: Cardboard Collection Detailed Design

After talking with Mrs. Slagel, our group has decided to forgo our first proposal of setting

up recycling and compost bins closer to the already existing trash cans in Knia. We came to the

conclusion that it was too big of a task and that we would not see the results we would like to by

the end of this school year before we leave. However, in keeping with the goal of our initial

project of mitigating the amount of waste that KS sends to H-Power to get burned before being

put into the landfill and/or ships across the sea to recycling plants, we have decided to focus our

efforts on cardboard. Amy Brinker had informed us that kalo farmers in Punalu u are having to

buy cardboard to keep the weeds down on the kuuna, or mounds that separate the different

patches. Our goal is to collect as much of the cardboard as we can on campus and still keep it in

the KS system. By giving it to kalo farmers farming KS land, the cycle remains intact.

At the moment, much of the cardboard that is collected on our upper campus is put in the

green bins under the stairs by Mr. Slagels room. His wife told us that in 1988 she initiated the

overall recycling program at our school. Over time it has evolved, but it remains completely

voluntary on the part of the teachers. Mr. Slagel said that some weeks people drop off a lot of

cardboard into his green bins, but other weeks there isnt so much. With this project we plan on

monitoring the amount of cardboard that accumulates at three different spots: Mr. Slagels green

bins, Akahi, and the Print and Copy Center. From there we will communicate with different kalo

farmers and organizations that are currently, or are considering using old corrugated cardboard to

keep weeds at bay.

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 As shown in below in Fig. 1, starting on Monday, April 24, we will be checking the green

bins near Mr. Slagels office every Monday. This is because the West Oahu Aggregate Co. Inc.

comes up to campus every Tuesday to haul away these paper recyclables. Mrs. Slagel informed

us that the school now has a contract with the West Oahu Aggregate Co. Inc. (WOA) and that

we pay them $300 every week. This money is derived from the money that students pay at traffic

court for parking violations and such. If we are able to significantly reduce the amount of

cardboard, the primary item that WOA picks up, then perhaps they will be able to come bi-

weekly instead of weekly, meaning that the traffic court money could be allotted to other projects

on campus.

Next week our group will be helping Amy Brinker and Jen conduct a waste audit. We will

assist them in sorting the trash on our campus. We hope to find out whether or not cardboard is

making its way into the trash cans in upper campus specifically, and if so, whether or not is is

feasible idea to set up solely cardboard bins next to the trash cans, somewhat like we initially

hoped to do, but on a smaller scale. We will also begin getting in contact with different kalo

farmers that either currently or thinking of using cardboard to stop weeds from popping up as

well as other kinds of farmers that could benefit from using the cardboard that we collect. AJ

Feducia, a writer for Flux Hawaii, interviewed Zachary Nathan, a farmer who is utilizing

cardboard to prevent weeds from overtaking his plants. He says, Were trying to mimic nature.

We cut cardboard [up] to smother weeds and give the topsoil a chance to rejuvenate.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

April 24 25 26 27 28
Waste Audit with
Mokauea learning Amy Brinker and
trip Jen
Meet with Akahi

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 Collect data on Get in contact and Print and
how full the green
with kalo farmers Copy Center
bins are near interested in using
Slagels room the cardboard we
collect
May 1 2 3 4 5

Collect data on Talk to Kai Set up bins to Continue talking Collect data on
how full the green Wainee and the collect cardboard with kalo farmers how full the new
bins are near Ops team to from Akahi and about how they bins at Akahi and
Slagels room discuss the Print and Copy would like to go the Print and
logistics of Center about getting the Copy Center are
cardboard pickup cardboard
by kalo farmers
8 9 10 11 12
Collect data on
Collect data on Collect data on Continue talking how full the new
how full the green how full the new with kalo farmers bins at Akahi and
bins are near bins at Akahi and about how they Begin planning the Print and
Slagels room the Print and would like to go out presentation Copy Center are
Copy Center are about getting the
cardboard Continue working
on presentation
15 16 17 18 19
Collect data on Collect data on
how full the green how full the new
bins are near bins at Akahi and Continue working Continue working Hooulu i
Slagels room the Print and on presentation on presentation Kamehameha
Copy Center are Presentations
Continue working
on presentation Continue working
on presentation
Figure 1. Schedule of what our group plans to do the upcoming weeks

Also shown in Fig. 1 is when we plan on talking to Alejandro, who runs Flik, and the

people at the at the Print and Copy Center. Again, when talking with the Slagels, they suggested

these two places as they presume that they use more cardboard boxes than any other group on

campus. We plan on meeting with those two groups by next week Friday, and hopefully setting

up the bind the following week, probably around May 3 rd. That same week we will be

reconnecting with Kai Wainee and the security team to figure out how we can go about letting

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the kalo and other types of famers come up to campus to collect the cardboard because at the

moment it does not appear feasible for us to take it to each of them.

The reason why we chose to first focus our efforts on kalo farmers is because Amy

Brinker said that many of them are already using cardboard to keep down the weeds, but they are

having to buy the cardboard, cutting into their already small profit margin. Last week Friday

Kiana and Maka spent the day at Hookuaina, a loi kalo run by Uncle Dean Wilhelm. While

there we noticed that a number of his kuuna are covered with plastic tarp. When asking him

what the purpose of the tarp was, he said, Just like in the loi the weeds come. We have so many

patches that I dont got time to weed every one every single day, so I lay the tarp. Without the

tarp sometimes the weeds grow so tall, [you] cant even see the kalo in the patches. We buy rolls

of this stuff from Hardware Hawaii. We questioned his use of tarp compared to other materials

and his response was, Yeah, Ive heard of other guys using cardboard and fiber mats, but thats

expensive. Tarp, tarps cheap.

From the experience that we had at Hookuaina, Uncle Dean and many other like him

would greatly benefit from using the cardboard that our school is currently shipping away using

barrels of gallons of oil. Not to mention that cardboard is a paper product that over time will

disintegrate and become part of the land again, unlike the plastic tarp that will stay as plastic

forever and add to the landfills. As seen in Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4, below Uncle Dean uses

quite a bit of plastic tarp, so by people like him utilizing our old cardboard, it is like killing two

birds with one stone.

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Figure 2. Uncle Dean Wilhelms loi in Maunawili where he must cover the kuuna with plastic
tarp, a cheaper, but non-biodegradable alternative to cardboard to block weeds from popping up.

Figure 3. Another image of the kuuna with plastic tarp covering it to inhibit weed growth.

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Figure 4. Sitting on the tarp covered kuuna at Uncle Deans loi.

It will take us a little while to set up the bins for Akahi and the Print and Copy Center, so

for the time being, the main thing we will focus on is monitoring how much cardboard

accumulates near Mr. Slagels office. Once we do have the other two locations set up we will be

monitoring them one to two times a week. We do not anticipate the kalo farmers will start

coming until around May 10th, but we do plan on letting them know about laptop rollouts in

August where there will certainly be a large amount of cardboard just laying around campus. The

week of May 10th is also when we anticipate starting our presentations.