To kick off a series of quarantine-friendly Earth month activities, we’re starting with an activity for K-12 students who are currently being homeschooled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
This page has a rundown of resources you can explore with your kids, related to our goal of promoting community action to reduce the land-based pollution that harms our coral reefs. The larger message we’d like to share is that everyone can play a role in protecting our oceans and reefs – there are many actions you can take that will make a difference. 
 
For Earth Month, we’re holding a social media messaging challenge, and for the first bunch of Maui-based K-12 students and families who participate, we will be giving away quite a few $25 gift certificates to several Maui restaurants that are still open and providing take out service (CJs Deli & Diner, Sea House, and Down the Hatch). We also have many gift certificates to dive and sporting goods shops to help families purchase gear for exercising and fishing purposes, and to Ace Hardware in Lahaina to support yard and garden care. To enter, all you have to do is post a photo of your creation (details below), share it on your preferred social media account(s) using hashtag #MauiEarthMonth2020, and drop us a line (email WestMauiKumuwai@gmail.com) with a screenshot along with your name and address so we can either mail you a gift certificate or put your name down on a list at the place where you can use it. This will be done on a first-come first-serve basis once we receive your email (one entry per household please), as supplies will be limited. Check out the other posts in our series for additional ways to "win" a gift card.
 
How to participate:
 
Choose one of the ocean-friendly behaviors from the list below, and use your forces of creativity to make a PSA (“Public Service Announcement”) of your own, in any form you like. It could be a simple drawing, a poster, a video, a story with a moral at the end, a fact sheet, a diorama…whatever! Just make it and share it. All we ask is that it has a “take action” component and highlights one specific thing that someone could do – see the examples below. Spend some time learning about the issue before you make your PSA. 
 
Want some inspiration from the Division of Aquatic Resources? Check out these PSAs here or for a more recent and relevant topic, check out this very official one on hand-washing from the CDC, or this much sillier one from the Hawaii Department of Health.
 
Ocean-Friendly Actions for Earth Month PSA Creation Activity:
 
Choose one of the following actions people can take to protect our oceans and reefs, and create a message encouraging people to do it. How and why should they take action?

• Avoid touching corals or coral reefs while diving, snorkeling, or swimming. Do not rest or stand on corals.
• Keep pollutants from entering storm drains, because storm drains lead to the ocean. For example, people can:
  • wash their cars on their lawns and use biodegradable, nontoxic cleansers, or better yet, take their car to a commercial car wash. 
  • pick up after their pet – scoop it, bag it, and put it in the trash.
  • choose and use fertilizers wisely when gardening – opt for slow-release and organic, and follow the labels so you don’t use too much. 
  • Try to avoid using pesticides entirely, but if you must, choose ones that are less toxic
• Install a rain garden
• Plant native plants
• Harvest from the ocean sustainably and ethically. Choose any one of these tips for the pono fisher (from the Division of Aquatic Resources’ rules & regulations booklet)
  • Keep only the fish you need.

  • Don't pollute – properly dispose of trash.

  • Improve fishing and boating skills.

  • Observe fishing and boating regulations.
  • Respect the rights of other fishers.
  • Respect the rights of property owners.

  • Pass on knowledge and fishing skills.
  • Support local conservation efforts.

  • Don't release live bait into freshwater systems.
  • Promote the sport of fishing. 

 
To explore these issues, you can start here on West Maui Kumuwai’s “what you can do” page , and also visit these sites:
 

• Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources' Education page

• NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program Educational Resources
• Eyes of the Reef Hawaii Educational Resources
• NOAA's Education portal
• NOAA's National Ocean Service Education Resources
• NOAA's National Ocean Service, "What can I do to protect coral reefs?"
• ​Maui Ocean Center's Ocean Education Classroom
• NOAA's Planet Stewards
• Hawaii Coral Bleaching Tracker
• Reef Resilience Network: Protecting Herbivores
• ​County of Maui Stormwater Management Program's Resources for Teachers and Parents​

 

Over the weekend, we partnered with Lahainaluna High School and the Old Lahaina Luau to hold the first-ever ocean-friendly car wash in Hawai'i! Washing cars causes a variety of pollutants (including oils and heavy metals like lead and arsenic, not to mention the cleaning products) to wash off and get into storm drains, where they ultimately end up in the ocean and can harm the environment. We tested out a model used elsewhere in the US to suck up and redirect the wash water to vegetated areas (or inputs to the sanitary sewer), and NOT into storm drains. Mahalo to a great crew from Lahainaluna High School for all the hard work, and to the Old Lahaina Luau for hosting us! We'd also like to thank the project's sponsors, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Hawai'i Department of Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources!
​Check out this album of photos, and to see some videos from the event, including a how-to guide, here's a YouTube playlist. For tips on washing your car the ocean friendly way, please visit our website.