Bottles 4 College

By Penny Nakamura

There probably aren’t a lot of 12-year old’s who see a pollution problem, look for a solution and then turn that solution into a non-profit organization that turns trash into money for college, but that’s exactly what Genshu Price started a few years ago.

Living on the beach, between the North Shore and the Windward side of the island, Genshu and his younger brother, Mic-key Price,7, noticed a lot of plastic bottles and aluminum cans floating onto shore, and after constantly picking up the waste in front of their home, Genshu came up with an idea that has now become the Bottles 4 College campaign.

“The mission is to create actionable items we can all do,” said the now 15-year-old Genshu, in front of a large collection station at his family’s home. “Hawaii is our paradise, and we all want to have an environmentally healthy lifestyle, and through Bottles 4 College, we are able to educate about our environment, and at the same time, provide money for our keiki going to college.”

So far, one million cans and plastic bottles have been collected and kept from the landfills, and that will provide two, $10,000 scholarships for two high school seniors who plan to go to college.

“We estimate about 60,000 pounds of trash has been diverted from the landfills,” said Genshu, as he sorted through thousands of water bottles. “We’ve worked with various high schools on the island with leadership classes who organize recycling drives, we canvas and talk to people, and we were at all the major surfing competitions this winter on the North Shore, with our Bottles 4 College collection bins.”

So passionate is the Price family about the environment, mom and dad help Genshu, with driving loads of recyclables to the recycle stations, which they estimate is about fifteen thousand cans and bottles every week.

Brother Mic-key is also part of the United Airlines Malama Aina campaign commercial, that is shown on every inbound UAL flight to the islands about sustainable practices and preserving the environment for generations to come.

“When Genshu was just 11 or 12 years old, I remember he used to take his little wagon around the neighborhood, door knocking and collecting cans and bottles,” said his mom, Maria Price. “He’s always been so passionate about the environment, even now, him and Mic-key will sift the sand in front of our house for micro-plastic waste, which hurts the marine life.”

If you’re willing to save your plastic bottles and aluminum cans, Genshu and his dad, Mike Price will come to your North Shore neighborhood for free to collect it, but you may have to be a bit patient, as Genshu must keep up with his own school hours.

We take any plastic bottle that has the “HI 5 cent” label, and of course all aluminum cans,” said Genshu. “But please take off all lids from bottles, because it’s a lot of extra work to take off lids when we sort here.”
Genshu said Bottles 4 College is also looking for
a North Shore business, school, or organization that
would be willing to sponsor a monthly recycling drive where North Shore residents could drop off their recyclables.

“Over 900 million cans and bottles are sold in
Hawaii annually with less than 25% of them being
redeemed at a recycling center,” said Genshu. “Bottles 4 College has recycled over 1 million cans and bottles and that makes up less than 1% of all cans and bottles, so we have a long way to go.”

For more information about bottle/can pick-up or for more college scholarship details, please visit their website: https://bottles4college.weebly.com