Attempting to pull it all together

Over the years I have been involved with learning and working with various aspects of sustainable living, especially as it applies to life on the island of Maui in Hawaii. I have created a number of blogs and websites in an effort not only to learn about the entire process, but in hopes of finally being able to provide information and education to the widest possible audience.

Being a part of a Non-Profit 501c(3) and assisting in helping to educate people about the importance between the health of the soil and the relationship it plays through our food and ultimately to our bodily health, I have promoted others to become part of the internet through blogs and websites. I try to link to them and would hope to encourage people to visit their sites too.

There is a wealth of information available to the world via the internet and no reason we should have to reinvent the wheel.

My hope is that Maui can be a shining example of putting together the best practices to encourage a sustainable life, not only because as an island in an island State of Hawaii thousands of miles from anywhere, but because we all need to take personal responsibility for our lives and together we can create the kind of world we can live in and pass on to other generations.

By working on multiple websites as part of the new Web 2.0 which involves more social networking via blogs, videos, interactive forums and websites, my goal is to try and post on all these sites as often as possible.

Many of us are overloaded with information already, so I will try to keep it short and sweet, as well as to the point.

As I finish up sites I will try to prioritize and pass on information about the sites and what type of information they contain. Ultimately they will lead to a main blog that I have not chosen yet. the details will relocated on the sites or links to relevant sites, but the blog will be the area to help decide what is of interest to the reader and they can than follow the link to the appropriate site to obtain that information.

I wish all well and as technology continues to advance, hopefully easier ways to update multiple site will come along.

Presently for short up dates or maybe a site to check out you can always follow me on www.twitter.com/EmpowerMaui. My latest site with Maui related info and video can be found at www.EmpowerMaui.com

Mahalo to all

Bee Aware Creates a Sweet Buzz!

The first in a series of four "Bee Aware" presentations took place on Friday September 12th at the Maui Electric auditorium. These presentations are being presented as a free service of Maui Aloha Aina Association in conjuction with their up coming 2008 Maui Body and Soil Conference on Maui. See www.MauiGrown.org for more information.

There was a great turn out of at least 60 people to hear a talk by a local Bee keeper Dennis Morihara of Tropical Apiaries. Judging from the long question and answer session at the end of the talk, it's quite apparent that if the life of bees was not at the top of most people's minds before, it's really causing a buzz now.

As important as the move towards good, nutrient dense organic food is, it's very much apparent that without the pollinators such as the Honey Bee, there isn't much hope to produce the quantities of food we need for our populations.

When Dennis Morihara brought up the point that it takes as many as 250,000 flower visits for a bee to create 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey and that 1/12th is what is used within a single cell of a honey comb, it has to make you realize that there is just no way for humans to replace the work of the pollinators.

It is very important that each and everyone of us do some part to help.
That can be as simple as:
- Choosing bee friendly plants for landscaping or gardening.
- Planting trees to help abate the heavy winds that blow on Maui.
- Keeping in touch with our government officials to let them know that we need to support the farmers that are willing
to produce the nutrient dense high quality healthy foods
that Maui should be eating.

Beyond just having good healthy foods and growing a little extra to help those who can't, it can go along way towards improving our own food security and ability for us to sustain our population on our island.

For more on Maui Food Security, please visit www.MauiFoodSecurity.com.

*Picture courtesy of Dennis Morihara and Tropical Apiaries.