Off the Scale! A Day of Aloha at Mauliola

Today I volunteered with the Global Preservation Initiative at Mauliola.

Many people know this place by its former name, Sand Island. (But we will not say the "S" word anymore Recently, the Hawaiian name Mauliola was restored, reconnecting the area to its deeper history and meaning. Until today, I had never visited the Mauliola Boat Ramp. It was nice to spend some time there, watching the canoes come and go while meeting people who care deeply about these islands.

The cleanup brought together volunteers from a variety of organizations, including Global Preservation Initiative, Plastic Free Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi State Parks, Seven Brothers, Kuleana, MGF Hawaiʻi, Waikīkī Aquarium, Honolulu Community Forestry Program, and Honolulu Beer Works.

Armed with gloves, litter pickers, and buckets, about a dozen volunteers spread out across roughly forty acres. We walked along roadsides, in ditches, along shorelines, and in open spaces, collecting whatever had been left behind. By the end of the morning, we had gathered more than 1,000 pounds of trash. The official numbers will be released later, but the pile of collection bags told the story well enough.

Did we get it all? Not even close.

But we made a difference.

One thing that struck me was how quickly trash disappears into the landscape. A bottle here. A can be there. A piece of plastic caught in the grass. Individually, each item seems insignificant. Collectively, they become thousands of pounds of waste scattered across a place that deserves better.

Back at the staging area, the collection bags were weighed using a scale hanging from a steel arm mounted to a truck hitch. Volunteers gathered around to watch the numbers climb. Afterward, Seven Brothers served food, and Honolulu Beer Works provided a non-alcoholic hopped tea that was absolutely wonderful. The event concluded with a raffle featuring prizes from Patagonia and other local companies, as well as several native Hawaiian plants.

The day could have ended there.

Instead, something happened that I am still thinking about.

As the volunteer work wound down, I was walking a road a few hundred yards back toward the meetup area. A lifted orange Toyota pickup approached with two teenage girls riding in the truck bed. Riding in the back of a pickup is legal in Hawaiʻi, so nothing unusual there.

As the truck passed, one of the girls casually tossed a drink can into the ditch.

Just like that.

The truck was not associated with the cleanup event. In fact, it happened while volunteers nearby had spent hours picking up exactly that kind of trash.

What surprised me most was not the littering itself. It was how out of place it felt.

In my time living in Hawaiʻi, I have seen extraordinary care and respect for these islands from the people who call them home. Whether it is protecting native species, restoring trails, caring for beaches, or preserving cultural sites, the level of passion is remarkable.

Perhaps that is why the moment stood out so sharply.

A dozen volunteers spent their morning removing more than a thousand pounds of trash from Mauliola.

One person added another can.

The good news is that I know which side won today.