Selling Sustainability
When Sandra Fowler was laid off in 2009 from the buying office of a local clothing company, she looked high and low for a job in a similar field. Pickings were slim and salaries seemed meager, “But I thought (my…
Climate Change & Nature
Business Support Helps Build Science Workforce
Sleek as seals, 24 high school students slip into the turquoise water off Coconut Island, snorkels and swim fins in place, gripping scientific gear to measure the health of the underwater reef. The work – part of a summer program…
Hunting Helps Ranch Survive
I’ve been hunting archery since I was a kid,” says Jeff Grundhauser, owner of the 5,500-acre Arrow One Ranch in Kula, Maui. And for more than a decade, his prowess with a bow has helped keep the ranch afloat. In…
Creating the Blue Economy
A conference in Honolulu next month aims to collect and discuss innovative ideas from around the world that help protect the environment and improve quality of life, while also creating jobs and wealth. The World Congress on Zero Emission Initiatives:…
Green Beer, But Not St. Patty’s Green
If you’re one of those people who consider the act of lifting your beer from the table to your lips repetitive exercise, your workouts just got a little easier. Kona Brewing Co. recently replaced its original 8-ounce beer bottle with…
Ask SmallBiz: Remodeling a Store and Being Green
Q. We plan to remodel our store. What should we consider to be more sustainable? A. Green build-outs for small businesses are the hot trend these days. But how do you tell between “greenwashing” and truly sustainable design and building? Here…
Innovation: Ship Harvests Ocean Water
Deep Ocean Hawaii is taking Hawaii’s most abundant resource — ocean water — desalinating it and selling the purified product in bulk to companies in countries like China, where water is polluted or in short supply. “Hawaii can become an…
Innovation: Do-It-Yourself Sustainability
Susanne Friend wants Hawaii to take back its food supply. “Over the last 50 or 60 years, we’ve let our food supply be taken over by agro-businesses with massive transportation lines,” Friend says. In response, she and her husband, Tim…
Innovation: Using lasers to measure the wind
Idea Engineers used to rely on meteorological towers to measure wind speed. But “met towers” only give you data for one location; they don’t tell you anything about wind velocities around a valley or along a ridge. Wind 3D, a…
Spin Zone: Does Hawaii need more fishing regulations?
YES Hawaii’s fisheries need adaptive regulations to ensure that we and future generations can continue to catch fish and preserve cultural practices. Fishing has been regulated in Hawaii since ancient times. Long before Western contact, Native Hawaiians regulated catch based…
