Bottles for Change Campaign

HoloHI News Release

A Hawaii educator plans to run and bike 750 miles around Hawaii in 31 days to launch school-based conservation initiative called Bottles for Change that challenges keiki to help reduce Hawaii’s plastic footprint.

A new study estimates that there are more than 250,000 tons of plastic floating in oceans around the world, destroying marine habitat and contaminating our water and food supply. Lindy Shapiro, founder of the nonprofit Bodhi Education Project on Maui, plans to take an unprecedented, coastal expedition around the Hawaiian Islands named holoHI (the Hawaiian word “holo” means to run or ride on) – kicked off before sunrise on Jan. 18 in Hilo, Hawaii, followed by Lanai, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai, and wrapping up with a celebration scheduled for Feb. 17 in Paia, Maui.

Shapiro’s itinerary calls for her to visit Molokai Jan. 29-31, where she will bike or run 60 miles total from Molokai Ranch to Halawa.

Throughout holoHI, Shapiro will be visiting local schools to connect and launch a unique, student- led conservation project – Bottles for Change (B4C).

“Bottles for Change will be making school and community presentations to increase awareness regarding the impact of plastics on our land and ocean environments, and to encourage youth participation in the Bottles for Change Challenge,” said Shapiro. “My hope is that holoHI will inspire others to support this vitally important work.”

Here’s how the Challenge works. Participating students begin by finding an empty plastic bottle that has been abandoned or is headed for the landfill. This first bottle becomes the student’s “Bottle for Change.” Every time they, or someone they know, chooses NOT to buy a plastic bottled beverage and uses an environmentally friendly alternative, they put the money saved into their “Change Fund.” Once their bottle holds “$20 for Change,” they hand it in at a designated bottle drop (school office, teacher representative, community partner) to receive their B4C reusable water bottle and t-shirt, and to be entered into a raffle for great prizes.

In addition to their Change Funds, participating students receive “bottle points” for the raffle every time they volunteer at a Hawaii Wildlife Fund or other B4C beach cleanup event, or complete a project from the B4C website. Schools that complete the Bottles for Change Challenge will receive free environmental educational outreach programming, supplemental materials and will be recognized on the B4C website.

To learn more about Bottles for Change, visit bottlesforchange.org.