HONOLULU (KHON2) — `Ōpala (rubbish) in Hawaiʻi is a bigger deal than most people think. With limited land resources and even more limited options for throwing away the things we no longer want, understanding how to navigate recycling and waste is an important life skill.
KHON2.com’s Unfit Adventurer recently went on a Tour de Trash offered by the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services. A large group of people, including several families, took the tour and learned how the city eliminates our `ōpala.
During this tour, Marvin Min, Senior Vice President for Hawaiian Earth, remarked that the only way to really teach adults how to recycle is if their keiki teach them.
So, keiki of Oʻahu, it’s on your shoulders to prepare the older generations for responsible disposal of `ōpala since your future literally depends on it.
Easy steps for keiki to teach parents and kūpuna recycling
Here’s what you need to know to pass the wisdom up the chain to your parents and grandparents.
1. Be the recycling teacher.
- “Assign homework”: “Grandma, today’s lesson is sorting bottles and cans!”
- Use role reversals: Adults love playing along when kids act like the teacher.
2. Create recycling rules together.
- Write (or draw) the rules and tape them above the trash/recycling bins.
- Examples of kid-made signs:
- 🥤 “Bottles go here!”
- 📦 “Cardboard goes here!”
- 🗑️ “Trash only here!”
- 🍌 “Food scraps here: banana peels, veggie bits, rice!”
- Adults will see and follow the child’s “class rules.”
3. Quiz the adults.
- Turn it into a mini-game: hold up an item and ask, “Recycle or Trash?”
- If adults get it wrong, keiki can cheerfully correct them.
- Bonus: Give out “grades”, like A+ for Grandpa if he sorts everything right that week.
4. Teach with rhyme or song.
- Make up a catchy jingle adults won’t forget: Something like, “If it’s a can, yes you can — recycle it!”
- Singing it together locks it in better than lectures.
5. Show the money (HI-5 lesson)
- Collect bottles/cans and take adults along to the redemption center.
- You can proudly say: “See? I taught you how to make money from trash!”
- Then buy a small family treat to prove recycling pays off.
6. Be the recycling police
- Give yourself a badge and monitor the bins.
- If Mom or Grandpa messes up, then you can gently guide and say: “Oops, recycling violation! That goes in the blue bin.”
- This allows you to reinforce the habit without nagging.
7. Tell recycling stories
- Explain the “life after trash” lesson:
- “This old can will come back as a brand-new can!”
- “This cardboard becomes another box!”
- Adults are more likely to follow through when kids tell it like a story.
8. Celebrate wins together
- At the end of the week, give your parents a tally of what they did: “Class, we recycled 20 bottles this week!”
- Hand out fun awards like:
- “Best recycler” or
- “Fastest sorter”.
- Adults get recognition from the “teacher,” which keeps the fun going.
The key, keiki, is playful authority. Take charge in a lighthearted way; and adults will let themselves be guided because it’s cute, fun and empowering for you.
Take the next Tour de Trash
If you’re interested in the Tour de Trash the next time it takes place, then this is what you’ll be able to experience based on our tour from Aug. 23.
First on the stop was Hawaiian Earth Recycling. This is where green waste becomes compost and mulch. (Side note: They have free mulch for anyone who comes to get it!) Next stop was RRR Recycling Services to learn about how the recyclables they receive are sorted for shipment.
We also explored H-POWER, Oʻahu’s waste-to-energy facility, where they produce electricity for 60,000 homes from burned `ōpala.
Finally, we toured Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill where they highlighted environmental safeguards to protect the ʻāina.