Do Genki Balls Work? Discussions Continue
Hawai‘i Pacific University scientists and leaders of the Genki Ala Wai Project took part in a symposium to discuss the effectiveness of the mud balls.
Photo: Sean Marrs
To foster collaboration on the issue of Genki Balls, Hawai‘i Pacific University scientists and leaders of the Genki Ala Wai Project took part in a symposium at Aloha Tower Marketplace to discuss the effectiveness of the mud balls in improving water quality on Friday, July 17.
The issue had become a contentious one after HPU professors Olivia Nigro and Carmella Vizza embarked on a two-year field and lab study and found that Genki Balls tossed into Kailua’s Hāmākua Marsh did not improve the canal’s water quality. Rather, they say, conditions worsened.
Volunteers with mud balls earlier this year. Photo: Sean Marrs
Meanwhile, the Genki Ala Wai Project has long been coordinating community events to toss hundreds of thousands of Genki Balls containing potentially beneficial microbes into the notoriously polluted Ala Wai Canal. The organization’s leaders, whom HONOLULU spoke to earlier this year, are holding firm that their efforts have led to tangible progress, including a return of marine life like native fish and monk seals.
The symposium served as an opportunity for both sides to discuss things in a collaborative way, as opposed to debating their findings in the media.
“It’s a technology that was developed in Okinawa more than 30 to 40 years ago,” said Ken Kaneshiro, president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Exemplary State Foundation, under which the Genki Ala Wai Project operates. “More than 30 countries are using the technology, and more than 400 scientific papers have been published on the effectiveness and effectiveness of the technology. So the research that the HPU group has conducted perhaps provides some counter information about the effectiveness of the program. Hopefully, [we’ll] address the issues of how we might be able to actually work together in a way to make this a much more effective program.”
HPU’s Vizza acknowledged that conversations about Genki Balls have been difficult because their evidence isn’t what many people had hoped to hear. “But our responsibility as scientists is not to advocate for a particular outcome. Our kuleana is to generate the best evidence we can, communicate it honestly, acknowledge its limitations, and share with the people responsible for making decisions. That commitment is why we organized today’s symposium.”
SEE ALSO: The Ala Wai Is Showing Signs of Life Thanks to Nonprofit Efforts
Diane Seo is the editorial director of HONOLULU Magazine.
