MEDIA RELEASE
The Kohala Center’s Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, in partnership with the Kona Kai Ea Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, will kick off National Volunteer Week and Earth Day activities with a community beach cleanup and sunscreen swap at Kahalu‘u Bay and Beach Park this Saturday, April 14, from 8 to 11 a.m.
Beach cleanup volunteers will comb the beach and park to pick up litter and microplastics in an effort to keep Kahalu‘u a welcoming place and to prevent litter from entering the water and harming the bay’s delicate and vibrant marine ecosystem. Gloves, buckets, bags, and tools for picking up litter will be provided.
Participants are also encouraged to bring any sunscreens they have to assess whether they are reef-friendly. Sunscreens containing oxybenzone or a host of other “hard-to-pronounce” active ingredients have been shown to inhibit coral health and reproduction. The Center will offer participants and beachgoers free trial samples of reef-friendly, mineral-based sunscreens in exchange for their chemical-based products. More information about reef-friendly sun protect is available at koha.la/reef-friendly.
Dr. Craig Downs, a forensic ecotoxicologist and executive director of Virginia-based Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, will be at Kahalu‘u Bay on April 14 to take water samples to test for levels of oxybenzone, the most common active ingredient in commercial sunscreens.
Kahalu‘u Bay and Beach Park is located at 78-6710 Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona. Visit kohalacenter.org/kbec for more information or call The Kohala Center at 808-887-6411.
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