Businesses, nonprofits, students and their families, both kamaʻāina and visitors alike, are readying to gather at the 21st annual Lahaina Town Cleanup, hosted by the LahainaTown Action Committee.
Organizers are expecting more than 350 people to help pick up rubbish from Olowalu to Napili, along the beach and highway up Lahainaluna Road from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 27, as part of International Coastal Cleanup Month. Registration and parking will be at Lahaina Cannery mall (roadside/mauka facing into the Starbucks entrance).
LahainaTown Action Committee Director Tambara Garrick said the inaugural event was a grassroots effort by the local surf schools on what was then called coastal cleanup day by nationwide environmental nonprofit Ocean Conservancy. Now, the movement is celebrated all month long.
“The first year I helped was in 2012 or 2013 when I was on the board of directors, before we brought it under the umbrella of LahainaTown Action Committee to steward. During Covid, one of the main organizers Matthew Lane talked it through with me about how to keep it going,” she told Aloha State Daily. “It grew from outreach for different school groups to eventually one of the longest running annual cleanup events in the state.”
During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, LahainaTown Action Committee worked with the County of Maui and began its partnership with Malama Maui Nui, which continues to provide supplies and labor today for the event. What was different then? The cleanup hosted smaller groups of 10 scattered more widely to adhere to social distancing and group size restrictions.
The Lahaina Town Cleanup also continued the past two years, following the wildfires, through pre-existing and new partnerships, like with Lahaina Cannery.
“Lahaina Cannery has been our home base the last two years and where we’ve kept the 30-yard dumpster that can a hold 1 ton of trash,” Garrick said. “We aim to make it a fun vibe when people come to check-in with a DJ, food, swag and more."
She added that for safety and planning reasons, there is a station of large maps with the red zone labeled for fire affected areas to keep clear of and Sharpies for folks to mark where they will be working.
When asked about overall impact, Garrick said, “It’s really incredible, especially after the fire. … Once you start going out there and you find everything from microplastics to a full-size washing machine that might have been dumped on the side of the road, and you realize you’ve just filled up a dumpster with a ton of rubbish, that’s a pretty big impact, and that’s also stuff that’s not going to make its ways into the waterways, whether it’s a stream or directly in the ocean.”
She says this is an important lesson for the keiki who experience “instant gratification” after working hard, and can lead them to challenge their friends, if they litter. Another benefit of attending the event is getting community service hours signed off, she said.
“It’s not glamorous to go out in the hot sun and pick up hundreds of cigarette butts or discarded food wrappers, so that’s why we invite people to just come. It’s going to be a good time with a large group of like-minded people who care about Maui and our coastlines,” she continued. “That’s why we ask people to bring a reusable water bottle and reef-safe sunscreen because these are small things we can do to take care of the environment.”
Garrick, who volunteers her time for this event, said she was surprised how healing it felt since the Lahaina fire. “To see everyone come together, connect, see neighbors and friends, I thought, ‘OK, this is much bigger than a beach cleanup. And I hope that continues this year, but maybe with a lighter tone, where people can enjoy a beautiful Maui day, have a free lunch, hangout and feel good about themselves.”
She works as contractor, and as director of LahainaTown Action Committee, her priority remains helping Lahaina businesses. "I'm trying to stay on the west side as much as I can. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive in Lahaina and that's what inspires me every day."
LahainaTown Action Committee is raising funds to help offset the cost of the event. Donations can be made here.
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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
