Oct 30, 2010 | Sustainability
It’s lunchtime, and 18 middle- and high-school students are enjoying the sandwiches they made together on the shaded lanai at Hui Malama Learning Center in Wailuku. The discussion is about local sources of food, the benefits of buying Mauigrown produce. It’s agreed—the food is fresher, it tastes better, and it keeps our own farmers in business. There are minimal transportation costs, which also means fewer harmful environmental effects.
This is one element of Hui Malama’s integrated curriculum, Na Ka `Aina Ke Ola – “From the Land There is Life.” “There are practical benefits of the program,” observes Pualani Enos, Executive Director and science teacher. “Hui Malama serves students with unmet needs; our goal is to engage and empower them and provide the tools they need to succeed in the workforce and as individuals. It’s about instilling confidence, teaching responsible citizenship, and providing the skills they need to be effective contributors in society. They learn they can be agents of change.”
Hui Malama’s program on food and its role in learning about sustainability works on many levels. The students learn about agriculture and visit farms, and they also learn about nutrition and eating right. The program teaches shopping for value and keeping to a budget, and the students are learning to cook for themselves. “At our shared meals, it’s an opportunity to work on table manners, social skills, and group conversation,” says Enos.
This year, the sustainability theme is food and agriculture; next year, the theme will be renewable energy, a hot topic on Maui these days and a likely source of rewarding careers. In addition to its current enrollment of 18 students, Hui Malama currently runs an afternoon GED program for 12 students, a number that will expand to 60 in January 2011.
Jun 10, 2010 | Environment, Sustainability
In 1790, Capt. John Kendrick of Boston set out to trade Pacific Northwest seal and otter fur in China. He stopped in Hawai’i to replenish his ship with wood, water and salt. Sailing offshore he smelled a familiar odor emanating from a cooking fire. It was sandalwood, so revered and precious in Asia, and a commodity that was escalating in world prices.
Hawaiians called it ‘iliahi. It was sandalwood that introduced Hawaiians to the concept of credit. Foreign merchants used items such as military uniforms, liquor, guns, silks, leather, silver mirrors, and brass cannon, to barter for sandalwood.
In 1805, after unifying the Hawaiian Islands, King Kamehameha I began to trade with foreign countries. To participate in the lucrative sandalwood trade he purchased a brig, the Ka’ahumanu, and in 1817, with Capt. Alexander Adams, sailed to China. Because of China’s brokerage charges and port fees, he failed to make a profit. But having learned from that experience, he imposed an anchorage fee of 80 Spanish dollars for every ship sailing into Hawai’i harbors. When he died in 1819, the monopoly on ‘iliahi took a downward plunge.
By 1821 credit debt extended on promised sandalwood reached a stunning $300,000. The common people were displaced from their agricultural and fishing duties, and all labor was diverted to harvesting sandalwood. In 1826, to reduce the staggering promissory note debt, the Kingdom of Hawai’i enacted a sandalwood tax.
Every man was ordered to deliver to the government a half picul of ‘iliahi, (a “picul” was 133.3 pounds of ‘iliahi heartwood, at $8 to $10 dollars per picul) or pay four Spanish dollars. Every woman older than 13 was obligated to make a 12-by-6-foot kapa cloth for trade. The Kingdom of Hawaii continued selling sandalwood until the mid 1840s. This period saw two major famines and ‘iliahi was harvested to the point of commercial extinction in Hawai’i forests.
Organizations involved in education, conservation, protection and restoration of native Hawaiian endemic and indigenous plants and eco-systems can be found by visiting the Directory of Resources at http://www.iliahi.org/
Question Of The Week:
What else has been harvested into extinction?
Leave a comment here or post it on the Focus Maui Nui Facebook Page. Mahalo!
Oct 22, 2009 | Environment, Sustainability
Aia i ka`ōpua ke ola (There is life in the clouds.)
Water conservation is something we all can practice. Except for the air we breath, water is the single most important element in our lives. It is too precious to waste.
Here are some simple suggestions to help you save hundreds, even thousands, of gallons per month. Do one thing each day to save water. Don’t worry if the savings seem minimal, every drop counts, and every person will make a difference.
Run your clothes and dish washer only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.
Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
Turn off the water when brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your hair and save 25-300 gallons a month.
Use a hose nozzle or turn off the water while you wash your car and save up to 100 gallons every time.
Sweep instead of hose your lanai and sidewalks and save 25 gallons of water for every 5 minutes of hosing.
You are in control. START TODAY!
To find out how much water you use at home visit http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sq3.html.
Question of the Week: How do you conserve water?
