“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”

Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect & Interior Designer 1867-1959

“I will not use Styrofoam.”

People the world over are making a stand against the way Styrofoam has taken over the take-out experience and here in Hawai`i we are fortunate to have professional help. I guess with the greatest percentage of residents who order takeout food,  (yep, Hawai`i is number one) we need it.

Styrophobia is a Honolulu based company that provides eco-friendly alternatives to the nasty EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam that can leach toxic chemicals into our food and last hundreds of years in the landfill. Not only does the company sell compostable & biodegradable takeout containers made from sugar cane, they are also actively involved in campaigns to prevent Styrofoam takeouts from even reaching our shores. While January 1, 2010 was supposed to be the kick-off date for Styrofoam-free lunches, the last time legislation was proposed it failed to pass. The state legislature website lists HB 1358 and SB 1293 as alive for this session. You’ll be hearing more from me later about these bills, but in the meantime here’s a quote from the Styrophobia website to get you on board: “Just as well-placed fear provides us a survival instinct – the fear of plastics in our environment provides us an opportunity to help save our planet, and with it our species.” Sure it takes some courage to come between an efficient food server and her reliance on those creepy, squishy, white foam monsters; but a little styrophobia can help you find it. Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

“I will reuse my plastic poke containers.”

If you’re a regular visitor to TheEcoBoss blogspot, you will remember “Poke-Poi Fridays.” This is the one day each week I sit with my two co-workers, Kuha`o and Haku, to enjoy a locally-sourced meal. While Kuha`o always brings the poi, made fresh from Waipi`o kalo and delivered to Hilo every Friday morning, Haku and I take turns getting the poke. The last time I went to Suisan Market, I asked the man behind the counter if he would refill plastic containers from a previous purchase. Sometimes I pity those who have to deal with my zero-waste obsession and other times I feel like I’m helping more than hurting. Either way, once he understood that I was NOT asking him to give another customer my used containers, he agreed, making this commitment an easy one to keep.

Sometimes you just have to get up the courage to ask.

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

Participating in The Great American Apparel Diet — to not buy new clothes for one year — might be easier for me than others, but it’s good to know that someone as distinguished as Vivienne Westwood supports the idea. I’ve always been a quality over quantity kind of girl, but I will admit to having bought into a few fashion trends while living in mall obsessed SoCal.

“With all the scandals tainting clothing retailers recently, could simply not shopping for clothes solve all our woes? Making an appearance on BBC News this morning, British fashion designer (and one of our favorite dames) Vivienne Westwood encouraged viewers to give up shopping for at least six months—unless they absolutely had to—to keep our landfills from filling up. Do you agree?” via Ecouterre

“I will repair old shoes before buying new ones.”

Even though fashion items are one of the few things that can be made with all-natural materials. . . yes, it is possible to buy pure rubber soles. . . adding anything to the landfill that has any use to it goes against my principles.  While I won’t be making it to the 106th Annual Convention of the Shoe Service Industry of America in Oklahoma, I did use their database to find the only Hawai`i Island repair shop out of the 17 listed for our state. Modern Shoe Repair is located on 1289 Kilauea Ave Ste A in Hilo. Another bit of random information I dug up about the company and found amusing: “Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $45,000 and employs a staff of approximately 1.”

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

In general, we all know that the symbol containing three chasing arrows means “recycle.” Is it just a friendly reminder or is it a statement about the actual composition of the material it decorates? Well, that depends. If the chasing arrows sit inside of a solid circle (pictured) it means that particular material or product is made from recycled content. Otherwise, the arrows simply indicate that the material they’ve been stamped on is indeed recyclable. In the case of plastics, there is often a number sitting inside the symbol. This tells you what kind of plastic it is and dictates that it must be recycled with plastics of that same number — should you choose to recycle it.

“I will pick up litter when I see it.”

Litter really does bug me. Sometimes litter is a simple mistake — someone didn’t secure the lid on the trash can in the back of their truck —but more often it’s a result of uncaring. The saying “aloha `aina” comes to mind. It is my belief that even if I didn’t drop it, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pick it up. I show my respect by taking responsibility and demonstrating my desire to keep Hawai`i beautiful, I hope to inspire others to do the same.

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

“I will buy in bulk.”

We all know there can be tremendous savings in money when purchasing products in bulk; what you may not be thinking about as you make that bulk buy is your savings in packaging materials. Buying a liter-sized bottle of shampoo, for example, lessens demand for plastic as well as the energy it takes to make those extra bottles and ship them to you.

There are many items I already purchase in bulk, shampoo being one of them. Still, there’s more I could add to that list for extra savings. One thing I’ve been meaning to do for a while is train myself to utilize the bulk bins at my local Island Naturals market — which contain everything from organic dried fruits to pasta and hummus mix. Best part is, I can bring in my own containers and forego wasted packaging altogether.

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

“I will (get my brother to) build a solar cooker.”

Much like a traditional slow cooker, you can load up a solar cooker and forget about it until it’s time to eat. The only really noticeable difference is the heat source. Why not take advantage of the solar energy beating down on us all day? It seems even more ridiculous to let that free energy go to waste once you see how easy it is to build one of these cookers out of everyday materials.

Build your own solar cooker or purchase one ready made. My dear brother, Kerry, has promised to build me one since that’s what I wanted for Christmas. The versatile box design I’ve requested is more of an oven than a Crock-Pot, making it useful for dehydrating fruit, roasting coffee and baking bread.

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.

“I will not let the water run while washing dishes.”

During a typical dishwashing session I gather the dishes around the sink, turn the faucet on and proceed to first wash, then rinse one dish at a time — allowing the water to run throughout the process. It is still unclear to me where I picked up such a wasteful habit. . . all the more mysterious since I never let the water run while I brush my teeth. In any case, I’ve been meaning to reprogram myself to be a more conservative dishwasher.

Some eco enthusiasts claim that hand-washing dishes wastes more water than using a dishwasher. Though they might have the test results to prove it, they often forget to factor in the environmental impacts of producing said machine along with the resources needed to operate it. However, there are things you can do to make utilizing your dishwasher a more environmentally friendly experience.

Join me in making this lifestyle commitment at Kanu Hawai`i.