SALT LAKE, Hawaii (KHON2) — Most folks who are familiar with Genki balls immediately think of the Ala Wai Canal, but the microbial mud balls are helping to clean up more than just that.
University of Hawaii students spent their morning at another Genki Ala Wai toss, where the project has been finding success since 2019. Their progress even inspired community members near the Salt Lake waterway to host their own tosses and cleanups.
“In two weeks we’re going to be tossing the balls,” said Aliamanu-Salt Lake neighborhood board secretary Chandra Kanemaru. “So bring your Shohei Ohtani, you know, arm pitch and, you know, come out over to toss the balls!”
The third and final Genki ball toss of 2024 in Salt Lake will be on Saturday, Nov. 23. Residents said the water clarity where they held previous events used to be terrible.
“The green algae or whatever it is and after we did toss the genki balls between the two buildings here, the two high rises, I’ve noticed that it’s it’s a slow process, but slowly it started to clear,” said Salt Lake area resident Claire Lubick.
Military members help out with some of the heavier lifting to clear overgrown brush and there is even a friendly competition to see which branch can bring out more volunteers.
“I think we did better than Army this particular time around. Last count, we had we had more than 40 service members from joint base coming out,” said Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam public affairs director Chuck Anthony.
“Cumulative, I would say the Army is definitely ahead,” said 516 Theater Signal Brigade Deputy brigade commander LTC Donny Pratt. “We move a lot in the military, so you’re generally not any one location, any more than two or three years. But it’s important when you’re in that location to be a part of the community.”
Over 1,000 Genki balls were made on Saturday, Nov. 9 to be thrown on Nov. 23 in Salt Lake. More Genki Ala Wai events are already in the works.
“The algae is going away,” Kanemaru said. “And like I said, the water turbidity, everything you get actually see fish coming back and the water is clear, yeah, we can actually see the bottom!”
Click here for more information about the Genki ball project.