Kanu Hawaii's challenge: Reduce holiday waste

Kanu Hawaii is launching another sustainability challenge, the First Annual “No Waste Challenge,” which is under way through the end of December. It calls on people and businesses to reduce waste during the holiday season, a time of year that typically generates 25 percent more garbage than normal.

Through education and behavior change, Kanu Hawaii, a nonprofit environmental group of about 14,000 members, aims to divert 50,000 pounds of trash from landfills over the next month. Participants are given tips on how to conduct a home waste audit of what goes into their garbage bins. Each week of the challenge is designed to reduce different types of waste. The campaign closes with a weeklong challenge from Dec. 18-26 to limit household trash to a single bag for the entire week.

“Focusing on reducing our waste to a single bag the week many will be celebrating Christmas is truly a challenge,” No Waste Challenge chairwoman Rachel Harvey said in a statement. “If we consciously reduce our trash during the most wasteful time of the year, we’ll be well on our way to permanent reduction in the waste stream to the landfill throughout the year.”

To participate in the No Waste Challenge, go to http://www.kanuhawaii.org/waste. The upcoming week’s topics are:

• Dec 4-10: The Dirt on Recycling – learn how/what to recycle and why recycling should be a last resort when it comes to plastic.

• Dec 11-17: Green Gold – learn how to turn green waste into a valuable local resource.

• Dec 18-26: "One Week – One Bag" Challenge – limit your household waste to a single bag for the entire week (you determine the size of the bag, based on a significant reduction to your usual household waste)