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Hawai‘i Hotel Coastal Cleanup Challenge

Your hotel or resort property is invited to participate in the Hawai'i Hotel Coastal Cleanup Challenge, on Saturday September 15th! We are really excited to be coordinating this event on a statewide basis for the first time, and we hope you will get involved! All the information you need to learn about the event and get involved is below and available here for download. We will add new information, as it comes our way, and keep a list of those properties participating.

If you have any questions, please contact CORAL Hawaii Field Manager Liz Foote at Lfoote@coral.org

Participating Hotels

Fairmont Kea Lani
Fairmont Orchid
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay
Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
Honua Kai Resort & Spa
Hualalai Resort
Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort
Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa

How To Participate

Overview

Thank you for your interest in the International Coastal Cleanup, coming up this September! The difference between this event and a regular beach or shoreline cleanup is that volunteers use simple data cards to tally and categorize the debris they find, using the same method on the same day (9/15/12) all over the world! This event is coordinated internationally by The Ocean Conservancy. In Hawai‘i, many local groups help conduct and coordinate cleanups around the state. In Maui County, Community Work Day Program (www.cwdhawaii.org) is the go-to organization that provides technical support, coordination, and materials for those looking to host a cleanup.

The Hawai’i Hotel Coastal Cleanup Challenge is part of this event, and is coordinated by the Coral Reef Alliance. This started as a project of the Ka‘anapali Makai Watch program, working in collaboration with Community Work Day Program, and we were thrilled when eight hotels and condos from the Ka‘anapali area participated in the cleanup in 2010 and 2011! We are hoping to expand the effort this year statewide, as part of our Hawaii Hotel Reef Stewardship Project (www.coral.org/hawaiihotels). Our role will be to promote and facilitate participation, compile data from all the hotels that participate, and document their contributions through our own media and promotional efforts. Let’s see how many hotels, staff and guests we can involve and demonstrate stewardship of our oceans and reefs!

This document is designed to provide all the guidance you need to participate in this event. If you have any questions, please contact me (Liz Foote, CORAL Hawaii Field Manager) at (808) 669-9062 or Lfoote@coral.org. If you’re in Maui County and would like general information or want to register your event, please contact Community Work Day Program at info@cwdhawaii.org or 877-2524.

Why Participate?

Participating in a cleanup event is a great way to make a difference! Gathering people together for a cleanup also promotes stewardship and camaraderie, and is surprisingly fun! Furthermore, your guests will feel empowered and appreciate the opportunity to contribute and ‘give back’ to Hawai‘i. They will also appreciate and recognize your efforts to make a difference as well. Oftentimes the many sustainable efforts that are undertaken by Hawai‘i’s hotels occur behind the scenes; this is a highly visible way for you to demonstrate your commitment to Hawaii’s environment to your guests and the local community.

Before Your Event:

Assign a "point person" to take a lead coordination role. Decide how you want to conduct your cleanup event. Do you want it to be small-scale, with a few staff members only, or would you like to create a larger opportunity for staff and guests? Would you like to invite community members from the local area as well? Decide where the cleanup will take place, and if there are any boundaries or safety considerations. Primarily target beach and coastal areas fronting (or nearby your property if it is not oceanfront), but you can also identify any other “hot spots” in need of attention.

Promote Your Event to Staff and Guests. Make it Fun!

Make and post a flier.
Add the opportunity in your events calendar.
Make a poster and display it on an easel in your lobby the week before the event to invite guests.
Create a challenge for staff – who can recruit the most guests for their own team? Any other ideas?
Get your day care/kids camp involved.
Get your watersports company involved.
If you want to host a community event, get the word out through a news release, your website, and social media.

Assemble Materials* You’ll Need:

Volunteer Sign-In sheet (download)
Liability waiver, if applicable
Media release form, if applicable; please display the Media Release form we have provided if you would like to participate in our photo contest, or allow CORAL to include your images in our promotional efforts and materials such as newsletters, displays, etc. (download)
Copies of ‘Items Collected’ data card, one per team (download)
Clipboards (plus rubber bands in case it’s windy that day!)
Pencils
Gloves (canvas or latex)
Bags
Optional- ‘grabbers’ or other tools
Water, snacks for volunteers

*On Maui, Community Work Day Program provides materials and supplies such as gloves, bags, grabbers, and drinks. You can coordinate directly with CWD to pick up materials by calling 877-2524 or emailing info@cwdhawaii.org. If you are from a hotel in the Ka‘anapali area, Liz Foote will establish a staging area at Kahekili Beach Park, and can have materials & supplies (clipboards, datasheets, summary forms, gloves and bags) that you can pick up the morning of 9/15, between 8 and 9 am. In order to do so, please coordinate with her in advance (Lfoote@coral.org, 669-9062); let Liz know no later than September 10th if you would like her to bring materials for you, and about how many people/teams you expect to be participating.

During Your Event:

Assemble your teams and establish the areas where each will go. If you have your own liability and media release forms, have your volunteers sign them in addition to the sign-in sheet provided, before they begin the cleanup. Usually the minimum you need for a team is two people – one to hold the clipboard and tally the debris using the datasheet, and one to hold the bag to collect the debris. As team members find debris they can make counts and tell the person with the clipboard what they’re putting in the bag. Before the teams set off, go over any boundaries or safety issues, and make sure they understand the data sheet. Also ask them to take photos if they can, and make note of any interesting or unusual debris they found. We will hold a photo contest (see below) so definitely take photos if you can! Identify a central area where the teams can return once they are finished, to dispose of the debris and turn in their data sheets and materials. Have some water available for volunteers at this place as well, but encourage volunteers to bring water with them during the cleanup.

After Your Event:

Collect the datasheets from the volunteer teams and make sure the contact and debris tally information is filled out properly. Fill out the simple Coordinator’s Report form (attached) that summarizes your cleanup’s outcomes. Please send a copy of the Sign In sheet, all teams’ data sheets, and the Coordinator’s Report form to Liz Foote through whichever method is most convenient for you – email, mail or fax (Lfoote@coral.org • 160 Kinohi Loa Loop, Wailuku, HI 96793 • Ph: (808) 669-9062 • Fax: (866) 703-7488). Liz will tally the results and forward the forms to The Ocean Conservancy and Community Work Day Program (for Maui County), so that your data will be included in the international report produced as a result of this effort. Please send any photos you would like to share with CORAL to Liz Foote via email.

CORAL Photo Contest

After the event, CORAL will be holding a photo contest, using our website (over 40,000 hits/mo) and facebook page (nearly 10,000 fans to date), to allow people to vote on the best images submitted by a hotel participating in the Cleanup Challenge. This is a great way to showcase your participation in this event, and recognize your staff and guests’ contributions. The winner and their efforts will be highlighted and profiled in upcoming CORAL promotional materials such as our quarterly newsletter (which goes out to ~2,500 members) as well as our online newsletter E-Current (which goes out to over 9,000 subscribers/month) and you will also receive a copy of the beautiful coffee table book Reef.

To participate, please submit your photos along with the sign in sheet by October 7th, 2012 by emailing them to Liz Foote (Lfoote@coral.org). You may enter up to three photos in each of the two categories: 1) Best Group Shot, and 2) Best Action or Candid Shot. Please provide captions along with your photos and include the hotel name in the image filename. We will conduct an online voting from October 15th through November 2nd, and will announce the winners on November 5th.

Other Things to Consider

Educational Opportunity for Staff and Guests:

A beach cleanup is a great way to promote stewardship, and help instill and reinforce an overall ‘environmental ethic’ in your staff, guests, and the local community. You may want to use this event as a larger educational platform, and pass along ‘what you can do’ tips and messages. For example, give away reusable bottles or bags with your hotel’s logo. Create an educational display about recycling, and highlight the areas on your property where items can be recycled. If you have a ‘Green Team,’ have them available the day of the cleanup to answer questions from your guests and talk story about your property’s sustainability efforts. Involve the kids from your day care or kids camp program, and give out educational materials such as NOAA’s “Be An Ocean Guardian” activity packet (attached – you could print all or just choose a page or two you want to use.). Invite your staff to bring their kids that day to participate as well. These are just a few ideas and suggestions – engage your team and see what you can come up with!

“What About Japan Tsunami Debris?”

If staff or guests have questions or concerns about the Japan tsunami debris, please share the following with them, from the NOAA Marine Debris program website (see below):

“There is no reason to avoid beaches. Radiation experts believe it is highly unlikely any debris is radioactive, and the debris is not in a mass. Beachgoers may notice a gradual increase in debris near-shore or on the coast, adding to the marine debris that washes up every day. The public should continue to visit and enjoy our coasts—and help keep them clean.”