Meet Our Team from

Hawai’i Island, USA

Hawaiʻi is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. While the islands of Hawaii are some of the most picturesque in the world, they also suffer from extreme social and environmental stresses.

Our local team of heroes are a group well-versed in the entrepreneurial spirit – a group of long term activists and environmental entrepreneurs. Their challenges, however, are steep and stark.

Part of this comes from being an island where waste is exported and food is imported. It also arises from a history of colonisation where indigenous ways of life have been steadily displaced. All this has led to extreme poverty and income inequality.

The long experience our team possesses has been brought to bear figuring out how to meet Gigatonne Challenge targets. They are experimenting with a decentralised model for composting and food production across the island.

Hawai’i is a Take-Off Team

A Take-Off Team has been going for several months and has an established track record.

Performance to date
Start Date
March 2021
Sprints
3
Abatement
77 TONNES CO2e
That’s equivalent to the carbon that 91 acres of forest will absorb in a year or CO2 emitted by burning 7,600 gallons of diesel
Equity
117
Targets for this year
Abatement
630 TONNES CO2e
That’s equivalent to the carbon that 746 acres of forest will absorb in a year or CO2 emitted by burning 62,000 gallons of diesel
Equity
1,100
Hawai'i Context
Population
1,455,271
(source)
Average Annual Income
USD 37,013
(source)
Per Capita emissions
12.3 Tonnes CO2e
(source)

Start-Up Phase Supported by

News & Updates

Approximately 22% of recycled cardboard and paper from the islands are shipped abroad at public expense. On average, over 55% of all waste is landfilled in each county.

Working with local businesses, communities and government, the team is looking to build an island wide system of composting and food production that could lead to a 15% reduction of organic waste being exported, landfilled or incinerated.

Additionally, the team has calculated that this could enable the production of up to 2,000,000 tonnes of food per year, which would go towards supporting income-stressed families earning less than USD 45,000 per year.