Page 6 - MidWeek - May 25, 2022

6 MIDWEEK MAY 25, 2022
HNL Tool Library was created by founder/ chief financial of- ficer Elia Bruno while he was a student at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. While attending a sustainabilities program, he saw the oppor- tunity to connect people who needed tools with people who already had those tools, but weren’t using them. Formed in 2016, the HTL concept continued throughout his senior year of college with a shop in the Re-use Hawai‘i Redistribution Center in Ka- kaʻako. I soon joined the team as the chief operating officer and relocated our expanded shop to the entrance.
no cost. HTL member Ashley Hartman says, “Living in a small apartment, I don’t have the space to store tools. When I moved into my apartment, I didn’t have a kitchen counter. With the help of HTL, I was able to make a barn door and a drop-leaf table.”
pleted more than 24,000 tool loans. By borrowing instead of buying, the community has saved more than $1 million and each member has cut their costs by an average of $1,240 each year. We want people to know we exist before individ- uals spend hundreds or thou- sands of dollars on tools they may not need to own.
HNL Offers Variety Of Tools For Next DIY Project
By Ben Pilat, chief operating officer at HNL Tool Library
Ben Pilat assists a member with the preferred tools for her home project. PHOTOS COURTESY HNL TOOL LIBRARY
HTL member Phaidra Campbell adds, “I’ ve had that neighbor who had every tool known to man. I looked at my tool shed and realized I don’t have the finances to support my desire of hoarding tools. I discovered HTL and found myself using the tools I needed rather than dreaming about them.”
To learn more about HTL, attend a workshop, show support with tool donations and financial donations, or become a volunteer, contact me via email at ben@hn- ltoollibrary.com or by phone at 808-746-2299. As we like to say, “The more we share, the more we have.”
Just like a library, custom- ers gain access to more than 1,400 pieces of equipment
that can be used for a variety of projects, from carpentry to gardening to DIY. With a
monthly or annual member- ship, tools can be borrowed for one week and renewed at
To date, HTL has com-
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