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Sustainability

Big Wind Environmental Impact Statement Meeting

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

Dept. of Energy News Release

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Hawaii have established a long-term partnership to transform the way in which renewable energy and energy efficiency resources are planned and used in the state. In 2010, DOE announced its intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) with the state as a joint lead for wind energy development under the Hawaii Interisland Renewable Energy Program (HIREP). In response to public comments, as well as regulatory and policy developments, DOE has broadened the scope of the PEIS to now include energy efficiency, distributed renewables, utility-scale renewables, alternative transportation fuels and modes, and electrical transmission and distribution.…

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Keeping Kalaupapa Beautiful

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

Keeping Kalaupapa Beautiful

Waste at the settlement up 50 percent from previous years

The amount of solid waste exported out of the Kalaupapa settlement is estimated to near 41,000 pounds by the end of September, increasing almost 50 percent from last year’s 27,000 pounds of trash.

Park officials suspect the reason for this upsurge is the increase of guests and visitors, according to Arthur Ainoa, the National Park Service’s (NPS) Grounds and Recycling Supervisor. At the monthly community meeting last week, he said many guests to Kalaupapa are unaware of the recycling and composting program, dumping all their waste into one trash pile instead of sorting it per the program’s policy.…

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Building a Food Forest

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Building a Food Forest

Molokai High School’s permaculture farm almost in full bloom

The Farmers will have the chance to explore a new method of farming this year, as Molokai High School (MHS) partners with local grassroots organization Sust `aina ble Molokai to create a permaculture farm located right on campus. The garden, which was started in January of this year, will use fundamentals of permaculture farming like building food forests, or diversified ecosystems that wield a variety of fruit year-round, as compared to traditional commercial farms that only produce one crop in mass quantities.

“We want to have kids engaged enough to create their own school gardens and permaculture curriculum,” said Emillia Noordhoek, Sust `aina ble Molokai’s executive director.…

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Ranch Seeks to Renew Water Permit

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Ranch Seeks to Renew Water Permit

For the past five years, Molokai Properties Limited, better known as Molokai Ranch, has been illegally transporting drinking water to west end residents through water lines intended to serve agricultural users. Now, they are seeking to legalize their use of the Molokai Irrigation System (MIS) and obtain a permit to continue transporting water through the irrigation lines.

The Ranch is in the process of completing an Environmental Assessment (EA) of their use of the MIS. Receiving community feedback is a vital part that process according to Colette Sakoda, environmental planning program manager for Environet, the company contracted by the Ranch to assist in the EA.…

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Assessment Identifies Molokai’s Agriculture Needs

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Sust`aina ble Molokai News Release

Sust`aina ble Molokai has completed a comprehensive Agriculture Needs Assessment for food production and security on Molokai. The Assessment is based on survey results that show where your food is being grown, who is growing it, and where you can buy it. The document is also valuable in that it shows what we don’t have as an island, and therefore what opportunities exist for job creation in the agriculture field.

One of the needs identified by the survey, for example, is an agriculture coordinator for Molokai to connect local farmers with stores and restaurants both on- and off-island.…

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Molokai Mom on a Mission

Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

Molokai Mom on a Mission

Community Contributed
Opinion by Mercy Ritte

Did you know that for over 20 years now, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Maui have been used for open-field testing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Agricultural biotechnology corporations such as Monsanto, DOW, DuPont/Pioneer, Syngenta and BASF lease thousands of acres of land to produce experimental GMO crops that have never before existed in nature, and that require the use of over 70 toxic pesticides to make them grow.

Research to assess the environmental and health safety of these GMO crops is fairly limited, according to University of Hawaii Professor, Hector Valenzuela. Yet Fred Perlak, Monsanto’s Vice President of Research and Business Operations, continues to promote the claim that “biotech crops have been tested, shown to be safe, therefore they are not a safety concern.”…

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Ho`olehua Ohana Garden to Farm

Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

Ho`olehua Ohana Garden to Farm

UH Extension Service News Release

Here in Ho`olehua, many families have a garden. Subsistence agriculture or farming is a way of life for many. Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat for a period of time.

The Ohana Garden to Farm program is designed to first get homesteaders interested in growing their own food. The intent is to eventually transition them from gardening to small scale farming once they know what they can grow best and have a feel for the resources needed to increase production beyond subsistence.…

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Molokai’s Bright Energy Future

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

Community Contributed

By Peggy Lucas Bond

“Solar is the strongest renewable energy resource for Molokai,” concludes the just-released Life of the Land report, “Wayfinding: Navigating Hawaii’s Energy Future,” by Henry Curtis. “Today Molokai has all of the resources it needs to become energy self-sufficient and to stop exporting cash for transportation fuel and electricity.” Solar water heaters for every residence should be the first step, the report states, followed by concentrated solar power and photovoltaic panels supplemented with micro-wind and hydroelectric.

The Molokai chapter of the report has been posted on the I Aloha Molokai (IAM) website, IAlohaMolokai.com. It suggests that Molokai could sever its relationship with MECO by creating a Molokai Energy Cooperative, or by following the Kauai model and becoming its own county and establishing a municipally-owned utility (MOU).…

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Beefing Up Local Business

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

Beefing Up Local Business

Molokai Livestock Cooperative processes grass-fed meat for the islands.

Molokai Livestock Cooperative (MLC), the island’s only slaughterhouse, is fostering a shift in the way people think about the meat on their plates. Whereas mainstream meat products come from notoriously cruel feedlots that bolster their cattle with grains and growth hormones, MLC only processes grass-fed, hormone-free animals — making them part of a national trend driven mainly by consumer awareness, as there are many companies and contractors out there which can use reputation management for contractors to help their business as well.

While the average meat-packing plant on the mainland will process between 3,000 to 5,000 heads per day, MLC averages about seven per week.…

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Farming for the New Age

Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

Farming for the New Age

Waialua PermaFarm’s unique approach to agriculture

Tucked away inland among the forests in Waialua Valley exists a farm that claims no fields, no pests, no weeds and yet still produces over 50 varieties of produce on only one acre of land. While many would call this place a myth, Waialua PermaFarm owners Dano and Robin Gorsich simply call it home. With thoughtfully designed Farm Sheds providing organized storage and shelter for tools and harvests, the property runs smoothly and efficiently while maintaining its natural charm.

Permaculture Theory

A permafarm is an embodiment of permaculture, a growing movement that pursues the development of sustainable ecological design.…

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