New Water Filling Stations to be Installed Around the Island

Courtesy of DLNR

The public is invited to learn how to keep the ocean plastic free during a free event in Hilo next weekend where a new water bottle filling station will be installed at Wailoa Center.

Put on by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Nov. 23 event is being held to encourage everyone to use plastic free bottles to help the environment and keep the sea plastic free.

Five additional water bottle filling stations will be installed on Hawaiʽi Island: three in Hāpuna Beach State Recreation Area (two at Hāpuna Beach and one at Waialea Bay), one in the Maniniʽōwali section of Kekaha Kai State Park (more commonly known as Kua Bay), and one in Kealakekua Bay Historical Park.

In 2018, the DLNR Division of State Parks was awarded a grant to install 19 water bottle filling stations on Hawai‘i Island, Maui, O‘ahu and Kaua‘i. The goal of the project is to reduce the number of single-use plastic water bottles that park visitors use during their visits to state parks.

The Nov. 23 event is part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad ministration (NOAA) Marine Debris Prevention Grant project. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event includes educational booths and art activities using marine debris collected at Kamilo Point. Join with State Parks, Hawaiʽi Nei, Hawaiʽi Island Art Alliance, DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources Marine Wildlife Program, Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, and Hawaiʽi Wildlife Fund to learn why we should all reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse single-use plastics in our daily lives, starting with using refillable water bottles.