Zero Waste Kaua'i

Supporting ZWK means supporting a greener, cleaner, and healthier island community aligned with the spirit of Aloha 'Aina. Here in Hawai'i Nei, our wealth is in the wellbeing of our community, land, water and clean air- and our lifestyle choices and habits can serve to support and better these important things. Whether you are a steward/ resident of Kamawaelualani (Kaua'i's original name), or a visitor, you share the kuleana (responsibility) of being pono (right and fair) with our sacred and timeless natural world. Let's cooperate and use our resources to renew, reuse, recycle and choose zero waste, keeping our landfill in Kekaha less full, our soil rich, and our oceans clean and full of life!

Our Mission at ZWK is to educate, advocate, enable and assist government and residents to transition to a zero waste society.

"Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste eliminates all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health."
                                                                                                                                                  - Zero Waste International Alliance

 Zero Waste is more than an approach to waste management and recycling, it is a philosophy and a design principle. Prioritizing zero waste means designing products and packaging with reuse and recycling in mind; ending subsidies for wasting; closing the gap between landfill prices and their true costs; making manufacturers take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products and packaging, or Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Zero waste efforts, just like recycling efforts, change the face of solid waste management. Instead of managing wastes, we manage resources and eliminate waste.