Hawaii Island & Sustainable Localization

On Wed, October 28th, I gave a presentation on Sustainability & Localization at Angel Farms in Pahoa, Hawaii. It was a handpicked group of local sustainability & permaculture groups of the Big Island. I made a similar presentation 3 years ago at La’Akea Permaculture Community nearby in the Puna area, and am excited to see how interest & area projects relating to food & energy Localization & emergency preparedness have seemed to increase since then!

There was lots of thoughtful & experienced input & the lively discussion continued out into the parking lot & hopefully will accelerate now as the local alternative news – Big Island Weekly – covered the event, and several present were very pleased to have made contact for the first time.

More networking is required as there is so much wild food available, & there are so many people living simply & sustainably already, and any number of organic farmers, skill sets & best practices available to share.

Some Local PUNA projects represented –

Aloha Mahalo Apono
Papaya Field Restoration & Canoe Projects

*AMA’s mission is to foster stability in our community by creating programs that help to connect people with nature, and enhance their ability to live in harmony with others.

La’akea Community

La’akea is a local example of integrating modern permaculture with the natural

rain forest on this island

Greenwill Conservancy

Working with at-risk youth & mentoring to pass on skill sets that will offer jobs in the areas of Green Construction & sustainability

Keana Okuda

www.iftheboatsstop.wordpress.com

*Keana is making a difference in her lifestyle in 2010 & will be blogging her year of living locally on what is already on the Island. She is asking us to consider -What if the boats really stopped?  What if we weren’t able to ship the countless amounts of stuff we use here every week?  Would we survive?  Could we thrive?  The boats have stopped before.  What is our sustain-ability?

The Hilo County Government is currently funding a project – The Kohala Center is doing an inventory of food sources & also is asking for citizen input on the future of island agriculture, and so it is a good time to put localization of residential food supply on the table.

On the subject of energy, every new housing development is now required to have a solar hot water installation. Residential water collection is becoming more common, thus saving lots of energy to move district water supplies around. Transport is rural & so is a challenge, but a FREE bus system was recently instated by the county, which connects many rural roads into the towns.

A further note, there are about 200k residents now, and before the advent of imported food, the island supported a population of 300k! A potentially do-able local food transition…so – dig that Taro!!

Aloha,

Annie “NOjeans” SurfWaters

RIDING THE TRAIN ~ SAVING THE TREES

IT’S ABOUT THE JOURNEY…

I RODE THE TRAIN TODAY – NOT JUST ANY TRAIN, IT IS THE WORLD FAMOUS “SKUNK TRAIN” THROUGH ANCIENT REDWOOD FORESTS, AND AN ALMOST UNTOUCHED WATERSHED THAT BIRTHS the WILD SALMON for california’s MENDOCINO PACIFIC COAST.

IMAGINE this journey with me….

Close your eyes & take a window seat on a Vintage Rail Cruiser as we journey on one of the most scenic railroads in North America – the Skunk Train. Let’s journey back in time into one of the last temperate rain forests. We ride deep into the headwaters of the Noyo River Canyon & watershed. We stop to pray and ask for forgiveness from the Old Growth Redwoods that have been saved from the logger’s ax over & over in the last 100 years. The story of these trees is phenomenal, and transcends time. Some of them are 1500 years old. Some of them may be felled this next season.

Now open your eyes and look around you – your own beloved trees, your own beloved watershed and hometown with its potential developments & progress. What do you want for your own local community? What will you pray for? Work for?

~everywhere – The TREES ARE IN DANGER OF BEING CUT FOR LUMBER. THE SALMON ARE IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION. IT SEEMS THAT so many lives HANG ON The THREAD OF BELIEF, ON THE THREAD OF LOVE, ON THE THREADS OF RELATIONSHIP THAT WE create TOGETHER ON THIS FRAGILE PLANET WE CALL HOME.

I invite us all to dream together as the deepening dark draws us inward, as the bear begins her hibernation. let us dream of a nation united – a nation united by bands of steel & friendship, a nation we create in our hearts, a nation of one people. May we imagine our lives & the world as we want it to be – fir me – that is a future filled with beauty and peace, voices speaking & singing truth. May we blend our voices and speak for the biggest dream that we imagine – let’s sing the chorus of life – creating the future we dream by our speaking, our telling, our stories, our every action.

blessed bee,

annie Brigit waters