Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods (HLH) is planting 1.3 native Hawaiian Koa trees on the HLH plantation just north of Hilo. The HLH project is devoted to the conservation of Koa while providing the opportunity for eco-minded investors to make ethical profits through environmental stewardship.
As current and future homeowners become more interested in the environment and sustainability, on both a global and local level, the significance of planning, design and construction has increased as buyers are doing their homework to find Maui homes for sale with trustworthy green building practices.
Green building practices on Maui considerations:
Many companies further enhance and try to entice those seeking real estate that utilizes smart green building practices. People are starting to live greener and demand more environmentally responsible building standards.
Communities with sound practices can also serve as an encouragement to local businesses to start thinking about
Thousands of vacationers visit the Hawaiian islands every year. The damage they do is remarkable. A large number of people visiting beaches, mountains, parks, trails, campgrounds, and other Hawaiian destinations leave litter, seeds of invasive species, soil damage, and pollution.
Thankfully, Hawaiians have a way to deal with the damage caused by tourism: Voluntourism–as described on the new site Volunteer on Vacation in Hawaii:
Cherie Attix started this Hawaiian voluntourism site recently after she realized that many of her guests were looking for ways to give back to the islands. As an added incentive, Cherie offers
When I think of conservation, it generally has to do with the preservation of mother nature. However, another form of conservation can also be perpetuating the things that make our Hawaii culture so unique. Of course, everything green, but also our local businesses, local people, and local way of life.
Really Hawaiian is a website that seeks to preserver Hawaii’s culture, and I’d like to share with you their mission statement that is similar to my outlook on living here in Hawaii:
ReallyHawaiian.com is committed to promoting the vast cultural resources and assets from Hawaii that help to support the people and businesses throughout the Hawaiian Islands. ReallyHawaiian.com believes that every product and service that authentically represents and supports the Hawaiian culture should be the ”first choice” for our local residents, guests and tourists. This philosophy supports both a sustainable and environmentally friendly environment and helps to reduce unnecessary pollution by supplying the islands with goods and services that are already made available in Hawaii.
Really Hawaiian promotes local business, arts, food, events, and much more. Take some time to browse through their site and you’ll find the Aloha spirit embodied by Hawaii and its people.
Part of staying connected to the planet, and being a responsible guardian of it, is maintaining a healthy relationship with it and respecting the other inhabitants of it. One person who has epitomized this lifestyle is Franklin Levinson, the Horse Whisperer. Levinson’s life work has focused on creating, and teaching others to have, strong bonds with one of the earth’s most regal species, horses.
"The Horse Whisperer"
His techniques do not include breaking horses and rough treatment, his practice is based more on mutual respect and understanding. Levinson says that most of a horse’s actions are driven by fear, that they are animals of prey and thus act accordingly. Understanding this and trying to relate to that fear can go a long way in developing trust with a horse.
If you read reviews from people that have spent time with Franklin, they say that he is a very humble, down-to-earth person. Although his reputation precedes him, he remains accessible and friendly. Parents that send kids to his clinics say that their children have come back much more confident and compassionate people. As a leading expert on horse training, he is a highly sought after teacher. He holds clinics in several locations, including Hawaii, and is even available for private lessons.
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.