Pacific Island Times February 2018 Vol 3 No. 2 | Page 5

Brief Chat
By Jeremy L. Bevacqua
K
Keoki Kakigi
eoki Kakigi and Juliann
Flores, who are both
pursuing careers as
professional engineers, share
idealism about how they can
personally change the world for
the better through their work.
The venues they’ve chosen to
do so are eye-catching.
Kakigi holds the title of “sustainability officer”
for the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team,
while Flores is a product engineer at Nike shoes.
The key concept to both is sustainability, which
is “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the needs of
future generations.” Both engineers spoke at a
recent event at the University of Guam’s Bank of
Hawaii Center for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation.
in relation to the Moda Center, where the team
plays.
The team takes pride in earlier accomplish-
ments: In 2008, they diverted 38 percent of their
waste from landfills. In 2017, they had their first
Zero Waste game. The team’s goal is to divert
100 percent of their waste by 2025.
As the team’s sustainability officer, Kakigi has
to incorporate reachable goals while promoting
its brand. He claims some successes, including
cutting the team’s renewable trash diversion rate
from 38 to 90 percent. Asked to make a sustain-
ability rule book for other companies to follow,
he quickly conceded that there are no universal
guidelines. Every region has its own problems to
tackle.
Flores, who also grew up on Guam, pur-
sued a degree in mechanical engineer-
ing at the University of Portland. After
graduating, she interned at Portland’s
Legacy Hospital. Next, she landed a job at
Nike testing shoes for their durability. Her
career path led her to Nike, where she
works closely with athletes and factory
workers to design and create new lines of
shoes.
Keoki Kakigi grew up on Guam but
moved to California to pursue his educa-
tion. He got a B.S. at the University of San
Francisco, but his passion and concern
for rising water levels in the Pacific led
him to pursue a masters in green tech-
Juliann Flores
nologies at the University of Southern
California. His experience with volun-
Nike is now at the forefront of sustainability
teerism in San Francisco prompted his change
in fashion and sports. Since the release of its
of focus and led to his current job with the NBA
environmentally conscious Flyknit technology in
team.
2012, the sportswear giant has since reformed
The Blazer’s motto for the Portland Trail Blaz-
many of its core business components, including
ers is “Live, Learn and Play. In December 2016,
manufacturing, production, workforce, etc.
the team launched ‘Live’, a program to help pro-
According to its business report, the Flyk-
tect the planet and their community. As part of
nit technology has reduced nearly 3.5 million
the program, the team is focusing on educating
poun ds of waste since 2012. It has diverted
and creating change in five areas: Waste, water,
more than 3 billion plastic bottles from landfills
transportation, energy, and food, particularly
and converted them into recycled polyester for
Nike performance products. Nike’s Reuse-A-
Shoe program has recycled approximately 30
million pairs of shoes. The company targets a 10
percent reduction in the average environmental
footprint of its shoes by 2020. Nike’s 2025 goal
is to use 100 percent renewable energy in its
owned and operated facilities, and has already
implemented on-site renewable energy genera-
tion at some of its largest facilities.
Flores’ motto is “sustainability by creating,”
and at Nike now she is part of a group that is
spearheading these efforts. Flores says that cre-
ating a product that everyday people can afford,
can also produce that are better for the environ-
ment. The materials used are the main factor,
with new technology production techniques can
help create a shoe that can last for years.
Asked how to improve sustainability on Guam
both agreed that different regions require differ-
ent approaches, suggesting that cultural changes
are necessary. It is important to tackle the cul-
ture in itself; change does not happen until the
mindset of the majority of the population care
about reducing waste and energy. From then
we can stem it into our parties, work places, and
into our homes.
On a personal level this includes installing LED
lights and on a more local level, getting island
public transportation and recycling up to feder-
al standards while giving the public incentives.
Tackling the culture is hard, and changing mind
sets is harder, but Kakigi and Flores are optimis-
tic that changes for the better will come when
people realize the natural beauty and resources
that will be lost if they’re not made.
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