SMS Newsletter, Year End 2009

Happy New Year! Let’s Make 2010 More Sustainable <img src="http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv140/satisfaction-com/nyr/th_nyr0102.gif" border="0" alt="Happy New Year 2010" title="Happy New Year 2010" align="left" hspace="6" vspace="6"Let’s all have a sustainable New Year so that there will be many more for future generations to enjoy. For South Maui Sustainability 2009 was a great year. We want to make 2010 even better. We’d like to thank all of the people who have participated and shared their views and ideas for a more sustainable South Maui. Last month’s Sunset Picnic on the Beach was a great opportunity to meet new friends and talk story about sustainability. Throughout the year many of you have contributed hours, dollars, food, ideas and plants to enable SMS to have an extremely productive year. We couldn’t do it without your support. Our vision continues to grow and we need your help to continue growing. At the Sunset Picnic, we were discussing what sustainability means and how we measure success as an organization. Everyone has different views but one answer is simple; it means that an increasing number of people in our community are able to make educated and sustainable choices in everything they consume. For example, every time you are in a checkout line, think about what is in your cart and what is the real impact of your consumption. Think about what your choices do to the local economy and what the by-products may do the earth. The immediate cost of products is just the tip of the iceberg. In the “Just for Fun” column this month we have featured the Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard which is a great 20 minute lesson. It is a must-see for everyone! And, if you still are looking for that last minute tax deduction, there is simply no place that your dollars will produce more local impact for the sake of sustainability than in the hands of our all-volunteer organization. You may donate to SMS in several ways: Securely online By Mail: Send checks made out to Tri-Isle RC&D to 77 Hookele St Ste 202, Kahului, HI. Please put SMS in the memo field. In person: Give a check to any of our Core Members at upcoming events or call 808-874-5955. South Maui Sustainability is a program of Tri-Isle Resource Conservation & Development Council. This is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations to this organization are tax deductible. Mahalo. January Community Event Better Soil, Better Gardens, Better Health Thursday, January 14, 6:30-8:00 PM Kihei Charter School Our January event is our most comprehensive look at soil health yet. Many of us enjoy the knowledge and enthusiasm that Vince Mina has brought to several of our events and we were thrilled when he asked us to be the Body and Soil pre-conference event. This year’s theme for the Maui Aloha Aina conference is “Culturing the Micro-Flora of the Body and the Soil” and the speakers are Jerry Brunetti, Dr. Paul Hepperly, Michael Martin Melendrez, and Theresa Vernon. Get more event info. Please join us for a fun and informative evening. The doors will open at 6:00 with the program starting at 6:30. Bring potluck pupus to share; we’ll supply plates, utensils and water. Special January Event Community Empowerment for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future Tuesday, January 26, 7:00-8:15 PM Kihei Charter School State Representative Mele Carroll will be sharing insights on how the community can best influence our sustainable future. Representative Carroll serves the communities of East Maui, Lanai and Molokai. She is the Chair of the Hawaii Affairs Committee and Chair of the Legislative Hawaiian Caucus and will be bringing the Hawaiian perspective to her talk. This event is the second in a series that we started by having State Senator Gary Hooser come and do his “Public Advocacy 101” workshop for South Maui Sustainability. Bring your questions as there will be Q & A session following her talk. Join us for an informative evening and take steps to influence our politicians. The doors will open at 6:30 with the program starting at 7:00. Bring potluck pupus to share; we’ll supply plates, utensils and water. Kihei Elementary School Garden is Growing! The Kihei school garden was started last year with 3 beds and one 2nd grade teacher participating. This years’ expansion plan was to add 6 more beds and have a few more classes participate. Fast forward several months. After several weekends building the 10,000 square foot garden, we had 27 classes and over 540 students participate in planting the garden. The garden is in place and operating thanks to almost 800 volunteer hours, $4000 in product donations and our original county grant. We’ve spent all the money and still have a few more things to complete. The most expensive and critical item is to put in a permanent shade structure for kids to sit under; any donations would help our keiki to be actively engaged in growing their own future. A huge Mahalo to everyone who made this project happen! Here are just a moments of fun in the garden: A 4th grader who stayed to help fertilize with stinky fish emulsion instead of going to the playground said “This is so much more fun than playing in the playground!” Emily Goss (SMS School Garden Committee Chair) asked the kindergartners how long they thought it would take for the green bean seed to grow into a plant and make green beans. The first hand shot up and the response was “12 seconds”. Emily suggested it might take longer than that. The next immediate response was “forever”. Hopefully it will be somewhere between the two. While planting sunflower seeds, a 2nd grader proclaimed in astonishment “We buy these at the store – I can’t believe you can grow them in the garden!” At the end of each class we ask “Whose Garden is This?” It is always a thrill to hear the kids shout “It’s Our Garden” Between the classes on the last day of planting, the SMS garden helpers were getting into the holiday spirit and over the course of the day, finished the song The 12 days of Gardening sung to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. If you attended the SMS Sunset Picnic you got to hear the whole thing! On the 12th day of gardening we planted in the ground 12 Cherry Tomatoes, 11 Green Beans climbing, 10 Beets a-blushing, 9 Nasturtium nesting, 8 Lettuce leafing, 7 Parsley playing, 6 Sweet Potatoes, 5 Kalo hui’s. 4 Rainbow Chards, 3 Chocolate mints, 2 papaya trees, and Mr. Shima’s green banana tree. </div Workshop by Steve Blake: How to Build Your Own Solar and Wind Power System Saturday, January 16, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM Held at: Steve’s solar-powered farm in Haiku In this workshop you will learn how solar and wind power systems can run your home. Learn how to save thousands of dollars when setting up a power system. You will see how to set up photovoltaic solar panels and how to wire them to produce power. You will determine how much power is available and learn how to adapt your home to become more energy efficient. A colorful slide show will survey various types of wind turbines. The many intriguing parts of an independent power system will be explained. We will investigate the latest in charge controllers and inverters. This class will be held on an independent farm in Haiku so you can actually see the systems producing power. Steve Blake has built and lived on independent power for decades. The workshop price is $125 at the door, or $100 if pre-paid. Please call to register 572-8371 or email: windpower@naturalhealthwizards.com Volunteer Corner In this monthly article, we showcase our volunteer activities focusing on specific needs or highlighting the work done by our volunteer members. PR Editor and Production Assistant We’re still looking for someone to help with editing and production. This is a great opportunity to help South Maui Sustainability create a consistent style and get the word out. No experience is necessary but you should have decent writing ability. It is estimated to be 8-12 hours of work per month. To apply or get more information on this position contact Kathy Becklin at 344-0469 or kathy@southmauisustainability.org

Free Christmas “Treecycling”

The County of Maui Department of Environmental Management, Recycle Maui County program will be sponsoring free recycling of Christmas trees in an effort to preserve the life of landfills.

Christmas trees may be dropped off at Maui EKO Compost at the Central Maui Landfill on Pulehu Road, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Trees may also be dropped off in West Maui at the Olowalu Recycling and Refuse Center located three miles south of Lahaina. Hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Trees must be completely undecorated and free of all ornaments, lights, hooks, tinsel, etc. at time of drop-off.

The Maui Fundraisers Wailuku Softball team is offering a curbside collection of Christmas trees on Sunday, January 3, 2010 for a 10-dollar minimum donation.

Reservations are required for curbside pick-up and must be made by December 31, 2009 by calling 280-8547.

For more information, call the County of Maui’s Recycle Maui hotline at 270-7880 or visit www.mauicounty.gov/recycle

Plant Your Holiday Tree

2009 Holiday Trees available now! Choose a species of tree or plant. Order online or call 808-250-1469 for more information or to arrange a delivery (Maui only).

Planting Christmas is a holiday-themed Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project that supports local tree farmers, the local economy, and the environment. Instead of cutting down a tree, decorate a live, potted and locally grown native tree for the holidays, and then plant it! This year is our Third Annual Native Holiday Tree Sale, and we are offering 3 tree species, all of which make for great landscaping trees, attracting native birds and helping with Maui’s watershed! Make your holiday truly green, and plant your Christmas tree.

SMS Newsletter, December 2009

December Community Event South Maui Sustainability Sunset Picnic Thursday, December 10, 2009 4:00 -6:00 PM Kamaole III Beach Park (South End) Join us for a casual gathering whose location alone reminds us why we must care about sustainability. We are holding a potluck sunset picnic on the south lawn at Kamaole III Beach Park. Look for the blue and yellow SMS signs and banner. Come relax, dine and talk story with us by the beach.   Bring your own food and beverage or something to share with others. You may want to bring a beach chair too. Check the SMS website for an alternate location in case of rain. Community Meeting of Interest Public Hearing on Central/South Maui Water Use Tuesday, December 8, 5:30 PM Kihei Community Center Contact: 244-8550 The Board of Water Supply of the County of Maui (BWS) is conducting a public hearing regarding the Central District Final Candidate Strategies Report. The Maui Department of Water Supply is in the process of updating its Water Use and Development Plan (WUDP). According to Hawaii state law, each county is required to prepare, periodically update, and adopt by ordinance a WUDP to serve as the long-range planning blueprint for all uses of water in each county. Each plan must be approved by the State of Hawaii’s Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM). Each county in Hawaii prepared and approved a WUDP for the year 1990. Maui County requires a WUDP update each time the County General Plan is amended or revised. Quarterly Coastal Cleanup Trash Flows Downhill Too Saturday, December 12, 8:00-11:00 AM Along Pi’ilani Highway in Kihei Thank you to all the volunteers who participated in our International Coastal Cleanup Day event at the Kealia Wildlife Refuge. Together, we captured an incredible amount of garbage from the roadway and beach area. Litter along our roads and beaches becomes a threat to ocean life when it ends up in the water. Turtles, fish, crabs and lobsters don’t know the difference between human trash and food. Besides creating life-threatening digestive problems, debris also traps and entangles sea life. Join the SMS Reef Committee as we address this ongoing problem. Our next quarterly clean-up is along the Piilani Highway in Kihei on Saturday, December 12th, 8:00-11:00AM. Our coordinator, Katherine, is providing collection bags and gloves at the site. Of course, you are welcome to bring your own clean-up supplies. If anyone has bins we can use for separating recyclable materials please let us know when you reply. See you on the 12th! Sign up below to get more detailed location information. CoastalCleanup@SouthMauiSustainability.org. January Community Event Better Soil, Better Gardens, Better Health Thursday, January 14, 6-8:30 PM Kihei Charter School We have a most unique opportunity for our January meeting. Maui Aloha Aina, which puts on the Body and Soil Conference on Maui every year, is bringing their 4 featured guest presenters to our meeting to speak and answer our questions. This year’s theme for the conference is “Culturing the Micro-Flora of the Body and the Soil” and the speakers are Jerry Brunetti, Dr. Paul Hepperly, Michael Martin Melendrez, and Theresa Vernon. Get more event info. Please join us for a fun and informative evening. The doors will open at 6:00 with the program starting at 6:30. Bring potluck pupus to share; we’ll supply plates, utensils and water. Special January Event Community Empowerment for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future Thursday, January 26, 7:00-8:15 PM Kihei Charter School State Representative Mele Carroll will be sharing insights on how the community can best influence our sustainable future. Representative Carroll serves the communities of East Maui, Lanai and Molokai. She is the Chair of the Hawaii Affairs Committee and Chair of the Legislative Hawaiian Caucus and will be bringing the Hawaiian perspective to her talk. This event is the second in a series that we started by having State Senator Gary Hooser come and do his “Public Advocacy 101” workshop for South Maui Sustainability. Bring your questions as there will be Q & A session following her talk. Join us for an informative evening and take steps to influence our politicians. The doors will open at 6:30 with the program starting at 7:00. Bring potluck pupus to share; we’ll supply plates, utensils and water. Volunteer Corner In this monthly article, we showcase our volunteer activities focusing on specific needs or highlighting the work done by our volunteer members. See our School Garden Volunteers in action! We had about 35 volunteers each of the 2 Saturdays it took to build the Kihei Elementary School Garden. It is a large garden being used by 28 teachers and hundreds of students. Thank you to each and every person who helped out to make this project a huge success. We’ll have more articles in future newsletters. PR Editor and Production Assistant If you prefer computer work to getting dirty in the garden, we have an immediate need for a volunteer who has talent in editing and production of PR material. This includes but is not limited to press releases, our monthly newsletters and flyers for events. This is a great opportunity to help South Maui Sustainability create a consistent style and get the word out. It is estimated to be 8-12 hours of work per month. Participate as a member of the PR committee that meets about twice a month. To apply or get more information on this position contact Kathy Becklin at 344-0469 or kathy@southmauisustainability.org. Hui Garden Members A beautiful, productive volunteer hui garden is now interviewing for 1-2 new members. This is a great opportunity for gardeners who love gardening, growing food, and working as a team. The garden, on private property in Maui Meadows, is a seed-vision for abundance on this planet and one of its goals is to be able to produce enough to give 5% monthly to the Maui community. Volunteers must be willing to work at least 4 hours work a week and share in garden costs including water, amendments and other necessities. There is an upfront buy-in fee. To apply or get more information contact Carole Burnstein at 891-8662 or cbaloha@gmail.com. Maui Bicycle Alliance Update The newly formed Maui Bicycle Alliance has taken their first action step by sending a letter to Milton Arakawa (Director of Public Works) and many County Departments letting them know of our group and about our goals of promoting bike riding and bike safety for our community. Current coalition members include South Maui Sustainability, Kihei Community Association, Maui Bicycle Alliance, Kihei Charter School, One Voice, Maui Family YMCA, NPAC, South Maui Learning Ohana, Inc., and State Representative Joe Bertram. If you know any other groups that we should invite to join please let us know, as there is strength in numbers, and that is exactly what this group is about. Our next meeting is in January and will be announced in the newsletter. Thanks for your support. Report from our November Event 1st Annual Sustainable Gift Fair As the lightning storm took over Maui’s night skies, we all enjoyed a memorable evening of connecting in the spirit of sharing creative gift giving ideas with each other. We’ve received such positive response, that we will plan for another SMS Gift Fair in 2010. For those of you who were not at this fair, please consider purchasing gifts from our on-island vendors, to support us all in thinking and acting more sustainably. Click on picture for event slideshow. Our 1st Holiday Gift Fair held on Thursday November 12th was a wonderful event. The entire large hall at the Kihei Charter School (KCS) was filled with Maui vendors and community organizations including the KCS’s own Honu Heroes, the Maui Coastal Land Trust, and the Sierra Club. Vince and Irene Mina brought a variety of fresh produce and sprouts to sell in addition to promoting their upcoming ‘Body & Soil 2010 Conference‘; vegan chef Brook Ke’amohala with Mama Earth Cafe and Chef Derrick Salomon sold scrumptious pupus and dinner entrees; Live Foods Chef Joe DellaBalla with Joy’s Place brought yummy fresh pies and raw chocolate delights; Roxanne from KulaFields offered weekly delivery service of local fruits and vegetables; Maui girl Pomai with Ali’i Kula Lavender sampled and sold their collection of fragrant bodycare products; author and educator David Bruce Leonard sold copies of his book on the Hawaiian plant kingdom: Medicine at Your Feet and promoted his on-island nature walks and Hawaiian Cultural classes; watercolorist Barbara Berg sold copies of her amazing childrens’ books; Ku’ulei w/Maui Favorites from Kula sold their delicious line of homegrown gourmet products including savory dressings and marinades, jams and jellies and unique seasonings; Beth Marcil sold her beautiful cloth bags featuring her colorful artwork; Tracey and Meeghan from the Kihei Community Yoga Center shared intro coupons and promoted their studio and classes; John Sanderson from the Maui Academy of Healing Arts, and body-worker Jana Horst from Kihei shared about their array of work; Dania Katz represented Edible Hawaiian Islands magazine; Phill and Paula sold pieces from their one-of-a-kind jewelry collection; Amber educated and refreshed us with Mountain Slope Water and SMS core members Daniel Kahanahele and Nancy Toney demonstrated a variety of ways to preserve food and shared samples and recipes. Special “Mahalos” to: Cambria Moss on violin, and Phill on harp and piano, for playing such beautiful music throughout the evening; David Bruce Leonard for your beautiful graphics; Vivian for spearheading the entire event, Nio for adding beauty and atmosphere ; Kirk for the final PR; Kathy for the awesome holiday sustainability tips and photos; Susan for your great organizing skills; Maury for MC-ing; Gene Zarro for coordinating and assisting with the KCS facility, and to each SMS core member who made this event possible.