Courtney Huddleston hopes to inspire a love for Hawaii flora on Earth Day.
"I’ve lived in Hawaii all my life, but there’s a whole other layer to the land once you get into it and you see all the native plants," she said. "I hope people will pay a little more attention to those things that are special to Hawaii."
Courtney, a sophomore at Kalaheo High School, is co-president of the school’s Aina Club, which is holding its first Earth Day Celebration at the Kailua school Tuesday. The free event will include poi pounding and live music by local reggae artist Mike Love. Hayden Atkins, co-adviser for the club, said the public is welcome.
During the celebration, students and visitors will plant 26 species of native trees, shrubs and ground cover in a garden at the school, Atkins said. The plants were donated by Kahuku High School agriculture teacher Matt Kanemoto, Hawaii-plants landscaping company Hui Ku Maoli Ola and Makiki public charter school Halau Ku Mana, all of which are interested in increasing the population of native species in the environment, Atkins said.
"The whole goal of this is to have this beautiful native garden that teachers can take their kids out to and use as a curriculum resource," he said. "(Students are) not going to care for saving the forests if they don’t know what a native forest looked like."
Atkins, 26, who helped start the club in October, said the club emphasizes the importance of native Hawaii plants because they feed native species and capture water for the aquifers. Atkins is not an employee of the school, but an intern for the nonprofit Kupu, which provides job training to Hawaii’s youths in eco-friendly fields.
"The plants play a crucial role in keeping the islands healthy," Atkins said. "Everything is tied into it."
Atkins said the club is focusing on Earth Day because the notion of caring for the Earth ties into Hawaiian culture.
"We need to learn from the past," he said. "When we’re talking about sustainability, we really do need to look to the past and how we used to do it back in the day."
Courtney, 15, enjoys the club’s field trips to fishponds and farms, places that she would not normally have access to on her own.
"It’s so full of culture that you can’t really find anywhere else," she said. "It’s really opened my eyes, and I’ve started to love the land a lot more."
She hopes her club’s Earth Day event will teach people about Hawaiian culture.
"After seeing this culture in Hawaii, which is based off of the land, if we lose that (environment) then a lot of (the culture) disappears," she said.
The Aina Club’s Earth Day Celebration will be from 2 to 4 p.m.
