Affiliated Projects
NO POHŌ
NO POHŌ is a volunteer project run by Coconut Trader LLC, owned by Ellen Okuma. Consultation with ZWHI helped establish NO POHŌ as a pilot project that was launched in August 2022 to assist The Locavore Store to transition from single-use glass beverage bottles to reusable/refillable ones. NO POHŌ’s mission is to assist Hilo’s locally-owned drink producers reduce costs and waste by distributing refillable glass bottles. It is a continuation of what was common practice over the past hundred+ years until the 1970s when plastic became the preferred material for containers. The shift back to traditional reuse has been referred to as returning to the "milkman model" in order to solve the worsening pollution crisis of disposable, single-use containers, particularly the plastic bottle (CNN).
Glass bottles were reused again and again for milk, soda and beer. In Hilo, numerous "soda works" were in business from the 1920s through the 1970s, as were several dairies along the Hāmākua coast. In the photo, bottles from the HIlo Excelsior Soda company (late 1800s to 1950s) and the milk bottle from Shiroma Dairy are evidence that glass lasts!
In Spring 2022, after receiving confirmation from the Hawaiʻi Department of Health that glass bottles had to be identified for reuse by the manufacturer, the search began in earnest to find a supplier of refillable glass bottles. Stanpac, a Canadian container company, has a 12 oz. glass bottle reminiscent of the old-fashioned glass milk bottle. Coconut Trader sought grant funding and was the grateful recipient of two microgrants from Vibrant Hawaiʻi and The Zonta Club of Hilo. The funding covered two pallets (4,800 bottles) that were ordered and shipped, via ocean freight, from Stanpac. The NO POHŌ pilot is continuing in an effort to improve return rates, as described below.
As of November 1, 2023, the original two pallets (4800 bottles) had been filled by The Locavore Store with their chilled coconut water (extracted from Hawaiʻi Island grown coconuts) and their cold brew coffee. From August 2022 through October 2023, a store credit of 50 cents for returned bottles has served as an incentive to encourage customers to return the bottles. Starting in November 2022, the monthly return rate varied between 27% and 31% with some bottles having been returned for refilling 4 times. As of November 15, 2023, The Locavore Store has added a blue sticker to the cap to remind customers to return bottles. According to some analysts of reusable systems, a minimum return rate of 90% is an indicator of success (“Return Rates Rule: Why Brands Aren’t Asking The Right Questions About Reusables”, August 31, 2021).
With the support of the Perpetual Hilo reusable foodware project, NO POHŌ plans to expand its service to other locally-owned businesses that produce beverages. Collectively, the use of refillable bottles will increase and the number of single-use glass and plastic bottles trucked 90 miles from Hilo to our sole landfill in Pu'uanahulu will diminish.
