Bottles4College, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by OHS freshman Genshu Price, funds college tuition for students in Hawai’i.  It raises these funds through the Hawai‘i Deposit Beverage Container Program (HI-5), a state-funded program that places a five cent redeemable deposit on each qualified beverage container to encourage recycling. Many other states participate in a similar deposit program, including California, New York, and Oregon.

“[Bottles4College] is a scholarship program that helps clean the environment and raises awareness towards recycling while sending students to college,” says Price. He started collecting bottles and cans in 2018 with the intention of using profits for his own studies, but in 2021 he had the idea for a new mission; to help others. “I created this after seeing how education is failing in Hawaii and how even though the islands are thought of as paradise, we have a problem with the environment and suffer from social problems like high living costs. That shouldn’t be the case, especially with our unique environment.”

In 2021, Price collected an approximated 300,000 cans and bottles (totaling to $16,000 in funds). Since then, he estimates that over 25 tons of material and almost 800,000 items were recycled. “This is a collective effort, and without the help of all that have supported Bottles4College [we] would not be doing what we are doing and we still have a lot of room to grow.” Bottles4College has partnerships with many Hawaiian organizations, including major surfing competitions such as Pipeline and Hurley Surf Pro. “Now, we are working towards [giving] our first scholarship, growing our community, and also looking for funding for job positions, vehicles, etc.”

Price envisions a future of creating “a system that will help communities, the education, and the environment for generations to come,” and hopes to expand his organization into other states/countries.  “This all ties into a lifestyle that advocates for strong educational systems, a healthy Earth, a cohesive community, and a healthy mindset that is about helping others and the future of this planet and all that exist on it.”