hawaii

Very often at Ecologicliving.com, we like to talk about cosmetic and fragrance products that have been produced in a sustainable way or made from organic products. That is because very often the ingredients for cosmetics and fragrances come from the rainforests of our world and that is not acceptable!

The Navy said a nuclear-powered submarine leaked minimally radioactive water while traveling to Japan, Guam and Hawai’i over several months.

The total radioactivity released into the environment from the USS Houston at each stop was less than one half a microcurie, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Scott Gureck said.

“That’s a negligible amount, equal to the radioactivity of a 50-pound bag of fertilizer,” he said.

A new green project called Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning (HSWAC) proposes to cool down buildings with seawater, rather than fossil fuel-based air conditioning units.

The Brookings Institution announced that Honolulu is the greenest city in the nation.

According to their report Honolulu Hawaii generates the least amount of carbon dioxide pollution among the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas.

All new homes built in Hawaii will be required to install solar hot water heaters beginning in 2010, cutting energy costs by 30%.

Maui Energy announced recently that it has agreed to be acquired by Colorado based Vista International Inc. Vista, which specializes in converting waste to energy, sees Maui Energy as a way to gain traction in the local renewable energy market. Maui Energy Company is the authorized Southwest Wind Power Distributor in Hawaii and seems to be positioned well in a state where residential wind energy has huge potential.

Maui County will soon become home to the nation's first wave energy project, an innovation which will provide 2.7 megawatts of clean,renewable energy from platforms floating offshore of Pauwela Point on the Valley Isle's northeast coast.

The goal of the Hawai'i Clean Energy Initiative is to use renewable resources -- such as wind, sun, ocean, geothermal, and bioenergy -- to supply 70 percent or more of Hawai'i's energy needs by 2030.  This will reduce the state's dependence on imported oil and help bring energy price stability to Hawai'i consumers.

Green Energy Hawai‘i’s plan to renewably produce nearly 10 percent of the island’s electricity needs.   Runs into opposition.

Though many people on Kauai talk about alternative energy and how someone ought to put up wind generators here is a man who actually put up a windmill but is running into many obstacles along the way.

Psssst! Wanna see the islands without spoiling something for someone else? Try these virtual flyover high def videos from Blue Hawaiian, the 'cadillac’ of helicopter tour companies. There are so many parts of each island that you cannot see without getting up in the air, yet I have never wanted to go by chopper. Why?

Are bio-agents sexy, or wot? You know, the little buggie-wuggies that replace weed killers by doing wot comes naturally. Who knew this was a growth industry in Hawaii? Yet, increasingly, bio-agents are taking up some of the workload in the islands’ war on invasives. Wudja believe fungi that kill leaves, stem-boring nematodes that kill branches, and bugs that eat leaves and flowers. The trick is to make sure biological control stays on the species it’s supposed to control.

Part of our shift toward less unsustainable ways of living, traveling, and doing business in the islands involves mitigating our footprints. Another part involves adapting our systems. These threads are interwoven. Our island living is threatened by global warming, resource wars, and social unrest, just like everywhere else. And our way of doing things in business, households and governance must change to fit the special challenges of our tropical islands.

Even if the seas don’t rise too much and the hurricanes don’t come through too often, Hawaii might still lose its appeal as a visitor destination. How’sat?

Sure, beach closings in Hawaii jumped way up last year as we floundered through 40 days and nites of rain. That’s one of the key findings in a report just out from the National Resources Defense Council. Still, to say that Hawaii is responsible for the nation’s poor showing on this score is to miss the point of the story. Much of the nation learned about this from headlines like “Hawaii woes push up U.S. beach closures”. The story might better be cast in terms of extreme weather events, and what the nation can expect as these increase.