I was browsing around the web and found a great Hawaii eco travel page from Pacific Network TV. I personally enjoy video on the web and these folk have done a great job of it. One of my favorites was the Hawaii Forests series. It’s a 2 part series, here is the first one:
I urge you to visit their website and check out all the videos. You can thank me later.
I am very pleased and proud to hear that the islands ranked #1 in the nation for carpooling.
A recent study by the U.S. Census Bureau found that 16.2% of Hawaii residents age 16 and older (who travel to work by automobile) carpool. This is the highest percentage of carpoolers in the nation and one that I hope to see increasing over time. That’s because traffic in and out of Honolulu has lead to Hawaii being ranked #10 in the nation for commute time at 26 minutes. New York was #1 at 31 minutes…which leads me to questions these stats because I’ve lived in Los Angeles and I’d argue that the average commute time in L.A. is longer then this!
A good way to beat the traffic (besides carpooling obviously) is to travel the freeways when the roads are not so busy. Check out the Honolulu traffic cams which will help you plan your travel times when there’s less traffic.
Learn more about these and other stats from the U.S. Census Bureau >>
It wasn’t suprised when I read an article in Pacific Business News that smart cars were selling well in Hawaii. After all, Hawaii residents seem to be more in tune with our national surroundings then our counter parts on the mainland. It was a bit of a shocker, thought, that these tiny autos would be making such a splash in an industry that has fallen 31.5% in the “Aloha State”.
Whenever I see something like this in business (the market as a whole tanking and a segment of that same market flourishing) it tells me we are witnessing a huge shift within that industry.
Even me, somebody who drives a huge 4×4 truck to carry surfboards, mountain bikes, does occasional yard work and takes his family camping on the beach, is thinking of getting a smart car. This video shows a smart car that would drive down the beach easily. I wonder if they have trailer attachements or make one with a bed to carry my toys?
I was watching TV last night and I came across a show called Earth 2100. Te premise of the show was that if the human race continued on its current path, that there would be major catastrophe and possible extinction by the year 2100.
The show examined the effect of today’s pollution and depletion of natural resources. As we grow in population, the more we polute and the more resources we consume. Earth2100 used past civilizations such as the Roman Empire and Mayans as examples of expanding societies that outgrew their natural resources and basically went extinct.
For these previous civilizations, the solution was easy, move on…to new locations with more resources that hasn’t yet been polluted. Unfortunately for our current society that encompasses the entire earth this isn’t an option. Where would we go?
The scariest thing is that scientist say if we, as a human race, do not greatly decrease pollution and consumption of these natural resources by 2015 (9 years), that the damage we have initiated will be irreversible. A large part of making this “turn around” will be convincing China and India to cut back on the usage of fossil fuels. In a recent global summit, this was proposed to the two fast growing countries. China and India both said they would make the change if the Western world were to share its technology so that they could continue thier rapid growth without the use of fossil fuels. Unfortunatly, the U.S. and others would not agree to share technology.
Where does this leave us? For me scared out of my mind. Not that I’m going to be around in 2100, but what about my children and grandchildren?
You’ve already missed the show, but you can watch clips of it on their website including:
I had always been a big fan of recycling and more importantly reducing the use of plastic bottles. But after reading about a trash boat (a.k.a “Junk”) on an inter island flight earlier this month, the message really hit home.
I knew that plastic use and the amount of trash it created was bad, but I didn’t realize how out of hand it actually was. After reading the article and learning of the huge amount of plastic floating in the North Pacific Gyre (to the north of Hawaii), my jaw dropped. How could this much pollution have been created in the past 60 years? Well, the answer’s easy. We as a human race are so wasteful. We buy water from across the world contained in plastic bottles instead of drinking the water from our own faucets.
The problem with the plastic in our oceans is that it, “interrupts the feeding of marine life (birds choke on plastic trash, plankton ingest microscopic particles of plastics) and plastics release toxins into the water.”
Before reading about the “Junk”, I had already cut back heavily on my family’s use of plastic. But after learning about the pollution in the North Pacific Gyre, I need to cut back more. I hope you’ll do the same.
For the past 20 years Americans have been consumed with consumption. It is the basis of our economic model. It is no wonder then, that our preferences for our homes has been to have bigger and better. We have been obsessed with stuff, and more of it.
Possessions have become an indicator of our status, our wealth, success, our happiness. Of course this is a very short sighted philosophy in terms of both: a sustainable economic system and our planet’s health.
The more we need, the more we consume, thus creating a multitude of complicated problems. Our seas are overfished; Vast forests and numerous wildlife species are being wiped out in search of fossil fuels, lumber, precious metals and such; We are expelling massive amounts of carbon into our atmosphere; Streams and vital waterways are being polluted; There are food shortages across the globe, even as gluttony is a predominate characteristic of western culture. All of these factors have been piling on top of one another, and it seems we are on the verge of a tipping point.
People are now seeing the errors of our ways, and many are creating captivating solutions and more sustainable business and lifestyle models. From the constant energy demands to the raw materials that they use, homes are one of the primary sources and locations of our consumption.
Smart, efficient, and sustainable practices are now becoming the norm when it come to building.
My Step Father, Robert, just posted about the economic viability of Uptake over on his Hawaii tourism study blog. Since Robert knows I’m into the whole green thing, he shot me over some information about Uptake’s CEO who has a blog called Simple Green Choices. This is a cool site that gives some interesting “green travel ideas”. My question is, why aren’t these environmentally friendly travel ideas over at Uptake? The reason I ask this is because Uptake has such a large reach, and since the whole green thing is such a big buzz word, I’m sure this would be an added bonus to visitors of Uptake’s travel website.
Check out these 3 sections for instance:
By creating an eco friendly travel section on Uptake, you could reach many more people. Plus you give travelers a choice of using companies and doing activities that are friendly to our natural resources. Now that would be a useful travel website!
Home Cooling
1. Open the windows to let the tradewinds cool your home.
2. Use fans instead of air conditioners.
3. Apply window tinting to reduce the need for air conditioning.
4. Close drapes or blinds to keep the sun’s heat out.
5. Plant native trees and plants around your home to keep it cooler.
6. Choose light-colored exterior colors and roofing materials to keep your home cooler in the sun.
I’ve been helping people market their Hawaii vacation companies before most people knew what a search engine was. Back in the day, we used to:
You name it, we did it, and it was a huge waste of paper…and oil (yes, the U.S. Postal Service is a huge consumer of oil). I think people sometimes forget how much waste the Internet saves. Today, my websites sit on server farms driven by wind power. And my paper advertising has been cut by 90%. Instead of sending snail mail to previous customers, I stay in touch with them through an email newsletter. Instead of full page spreads in magazines shipped on oil consuming boats and planes around the world, I advertise on websites.
Today, I’d like to recognize one of the first Hawaii vacation advertising based websites on the Internet, Kauai Vacation Resorts. I found this Kauai vacation rental website back in 2001 and have been advertising with the owner, Steve, ever since. You can still find my client’s rental properties on his Poipu Beach vacation rentals, Princeville condos and Kapaa condos pages. You can think of the site as a VRBO, accept specific to Kauai with a lot more rentals for its niche market.
There have been a lot of other vacation rental websites that have popped up since Kauai Vacation Resort’s inception, but you really have to commend Steve for having the foresite to create an advertising venue that didn’t rely so heavily on waste. Whether this was Steve’s intention or not is besides the point. Good work, and here’s to many more years working together.
In my recent post, “Hawaii resorts looking to save energy by turing of the air conditioning“, I discussed 2 resorts using a technology that turned off air conditioning when you left your room. Then a reader commented asking, “Why do these resorts even need air conditioning?”. It’s true, this is Hawaii and median temperatures are about 75 degrees year round. If you planned well in the development phase and made sure your resort took full advantage of the prevailing trade winds, there should be no need for ac.
So my next task was to find a resort that didn’t use air conditioning. Easier said then done. After some research and several phone calls I came across Kuhio Shores. Kuhio Shores is a resort built right on the water and the building was designed with trade winds in mind, which come right off the ocean. This is a clever design that allow the rooms to stay cool and keep guests comfortable.
Upon further inquiry into the resort, I found out that the reason for not having air conditioning was because of how the building was wired for electricity. The owners decided not to redo the condominium complexe’s wiring because they felt there is no need for ac. I think this is admirable since one of the key ingredients to conservation is reducing. And Kuhio Shores is reducing a lot by not retrofitting the building to accept air conditioning.