Get Growing Naturally

A new O‘ahu program converts household green waste and food scraps into compost for healthy landscapes and gardens

By: Darlene Dela Cruz

Sep 1, 2026

The staff garden at Hawaiian Earth Recycling in Wahiawā utilizes compost to enhance the growth of plantings like dahlia flowers. All photos by Darlene Dela Cruz
The staff garden at Hawaiian Earth Recycling in Wahiawā utilizes compost to enhance the growth of plantings like dahlia flowers. All photos by Darlene Dela Cruz

When Ku‘u Home visited Hawaiian Earth Recycling in July, ‘ulu (breadfruit) trees flourished along the paved road leading to the facility. Rows of young dahlia plantings lined plots of soil outside the main Wahiawā office and a bed of fresh lettuces in an adjacent “staff garden” thrived with rich colors.

“We’re not farmers, but we just plant and put compost and look how nice it is,” says Marvin Min, senior vice president of Hawaiian Earth. “We get about 500 to 600 pounds of ‘ulu per tree a year.”

Hawaiian Earth’s advanced compost-processing facility in Wahiawā is a key part of the Green Recycling Organic Waste (GROW) pilot program, Honolulu City and County’s new initiative aimed at reducing the amount of household food trash that ends up in landfills. Starting Oct. 1, all homeowners on O‘ahu can place food scraps and green waste into their green city-issued compost bins, which will be taken to Hawaiian Earth for recycling.

“It’s such an exciting opportunity for us now [to be] recycling all this material and these things that we used to throw away,” Min says. “All that ʻōpala, now we can make it into a compost product that we can put back into the ʻāina and to improve our soil health.”

FROM TOP: Fresh lettuces, flowers, asparagus and soybeans thrive with soil that’s rich in nutrients from Hawaiian Earth’s compost.

According to the Honolulu City and County Department of Environmental Services, green compost bins accept these types of food scraps and waste:

  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Dairy products: solids and semi-solids at room temperature 
    (such as cheese and yogurt)
  • Bread and baked goods
  • Pasta, rice, grains and cereal
  • Beans, nuts and seeds
  • Meat, seafood, poultry and bones (such as from fish and chicken)
  • Eggshells, nutshells and seafood shells
  • Leftovers and spoiled food
  • Table scraps and plate scrapings
  • Loose coffee grounds and tea leaves/grounds
O‘ahu residents are welcome to load up trucks and containers with Hawaiian Earth’s free mulch.

Hawaiian Earth purifies these materials and green waste to remove pathogens and bring out plant-friendly microorganisms. The resulting compost is mixed into Hawaiian Earth’s soil blends and distributed at the company’s locations on O‘ahu and Hawai‘i island, and at home improvement stores statewide.

“Our composting time-period takes about 18 to 24 months,” Min says. 

In addition to producing healthy landscaping and yields of flowers, fruits and vegetables, Min explains that compost can also help save water and remediate soil to mitigate harmful storm water run-off.

It’s a “win-win” for homeowners and the environment, he adds.

Healthy Soil Matters

Soil is “a living and life-giving natural resource,” notes the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service’s website. We’ve summed up their tips for soil management below. Visit nrcs.usda.gov for more details. 

Reduce the amount of tilling in your yard or garden to prevent erosion and disruption of soil organisms’ biological cycles. This allows nutrients and roots to develop better.

Increase your soil’s biodiversity through natural amendments like compost or by rotating plant types and utilizing cover crops. Biodiverse soil helps mitigate plant diseases and pest infestations.

Maintain living roots to ensure optimum cycling of nutrients and water. The rhizosphere is an area close to plant roots that is a vital part of soil ecosystems.

This story appears in the September/October 2026 print issue of Ku‘u Home magazine.