Tap into Sustainability: Promoting Tap Water Over Bottled Alternatives for Locals and Tourists Alike
background Plastic bottled drinking water contributes a substantial amount of our recyclable…
Reforest hawaii: capture the carbon
Come join us Saturday June 17th at 7:00 AMHelp us reestablish the…
Zero Waste Event Training
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Projects and Programs
Zero Waste Resource GuideTo educate local decision makers of the potential Zero…
What is Zero Waste?
Zero Waste is more than an approach to waste management and recycling,…
Movie Night
ZWK partnered with Kauai Community College to put on a number of…
Join Us
ZWK Membership
Past Testimony on the Kauaʻi ISWMP
Testimony on the Kauaʻi Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan Update Draft 4By…
ZWK Ohana
ZWK INSTAGRAM FEED
Our Story
Zero Waste Kauai (ZWK) was founded in 2006 by Pat Gegen and…
Alanna Le Sueur
Bio
ZWK priorities for ISWMP
Identify the following four main priorities for next 10 years as the…
John Patt
Bio
Background MRF
The County of Kauaʻi”s number 1 goal in the General Plan is…
Nancy Romaine
Bio
Jenn Sifuentes
Bio
John Harder
John is a Berkeley dropout who came to Kaua‘i in 1969 and…
Ruta Jordans
Ruta Jordans has followed a zero waste way of living all her…
Zero Waste
Efforts to reduce solid waste generation waste to nothing, or as close…
Our Story
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 Intent
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!
Our Success
As of 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.