Photo Credit: Lethal Lens Photography
By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– On Saturday, November 15, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii in partnership with KUPU will host the culmination event for the First Annual Ultimate Sand Sifter Challenge, where more than a dozen competitors will present their models for a chance to win $2,500. Kickoff is at 9:30 am at Kalama Beach Club in Kailua and the event is open to the public.
Attendees will have a chance to interact with the inventions, clean the beach, watch competitors put their designs to use, and judge their top 3 favorites all the while being blessed with music provided by a local DJ and 200 free, plastic-free lunches from Life Foods. Prize money graciously donated by Revolusun, First Wind, and the Johnshon Ohana Charitable Foundation.
At their Point Panics beach cleanup this past June, SCH put out a call for entries to encourage locals to design and build sand sifters that could effectively remove microplastic from the sand — using creativity and a budget of under $300. Fifty Five entrants submitted a drawing and a description of their design online, and the top designs were given the green light to build.
Photo Credit: SCH
Entries had to be human powered, run without the use of gas/fossil fuels, with an emphasis on utilizing reused, recycled, and sustainable materials.
During the event, the public and a panel of judges from multiple scientific and environmental fields will choose a winner based on the following features:
- Amount of plastic removed
- Efficiency of sifter
- Cost to replicate
- Creativity
- Use of reusable base materials
- Portability
The winning designer or design team receives a $2,500 prize, plus an additional $2,500 to build five additional sand sifters, which will be donated to partnering environmental organizations and local stewards to maximize effectiveness at coastal cleanups.
Executive Director Kahi Pacarro feels the interactive nature of the Ultimate Sand Sifter Challenge is going to help shine a light on the problem of microplastic and marine debris here in Hawaii:
“Marine debris is going to continue washing ashore until we as global citizens drastically reduce our use of unnecessary plastics. Until that time, in order for our beaches to remain the nicest in the world, we the public will need to #cleanyobeach! Sandsifters make our work easier and will promote newer ideas to make our work more efficient and educational.”
About Sustainable Coastlines
Sustainable Coastlines is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. One hundred percent of donations go to support beach clean up efforts, coastal advocacy, and community education. Established in January of 2011, over 8,000 SCH volunteers have collected more than 75,000 lbs. of marine debris from Hawaii’s coastal areas. Visit www.sustainablecoastlineshawaii.org or search Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii on Facebook. Please contact Kahi Pacarro at kahi@sustainablecoastlineshawaii.org for more information.