OUR MISSION

TO EDUCATE, ADVOCATE, ENABLE AND ASSIST GOVERNMENT AND RESIDENTS TO TRANSITION TO A ZERO WASTE SOCIETY

Mayor’s Disposable Plastic Policy

Disposable Plastics are prohibited on County Property as of January, 2021. Learn more about the Disposable Plastic Policy, acceptable alternatives and the Polystyrene Food Container Ban here.

CALL TO ACTION: 

Sign the petition at https://zerowastekauai.org/petition-page/

We need the help of every person who wants Kauaʻi’s system of handling solid waste to be a sustainable system–i.e. one based on Zero Waste principles. Please let your voice be heard!

LOOKING FOR THE PETITION? CLICK HERE!

Aloha!

Zero Waste Kauai (ZWK) was founded in 2006 by Pat Gegen and John Harder (aka the Dump Doctor) in response to a proposal in the County’s Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan update (ISWM Plan) to include Waste to Energy (incineration) as an option in the County’s waste management strategy.

Our original intent was primarily education: to expand the public’s awareness of the potential of Zero Waste Management to more effectively manage our discards, rather than employ incineration as a primary strategy… and it worked!

To date (2020) the island of Kauai successfully diverts approximately 43% of landfill-bound waste, primarily through HI-5 Recycling programs and Green Waste Management sites, as well as food waste diversion practices such as composting and large-scale events management in partnership with ZWK. And we can get to 100% diversion.

“Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste eliminates all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.”

– Zero Waste International Alliance

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