Upcountry Farm Tour Report

FARM TOURS REVEAL CHALLENGES, BENEFITS OF MAUI AGRICULTURE
MauiWeekly, July 23, 2009, by Sarah Ruppenthal

On Saturday, July 18, Upcountry Sustainability presented the first in a series of local farm tours, providing an opportunity for residents to explore three Kula farms and meet the farmers who keep things growing. Farm tour participants visited Coca Farm with Gil, Kupa‘a Farm with Simpson and Ross, and ‘O‘ō Farm with Clark. (see full article)

MECO Testing Phoenix Electric Vehicles

Maui Electric Co. (MECO) and a California manufacturer of electric vehicles signed an accord on Tuesday, Dec. 9, allowing the utility to test the durability of new battery-powered pickup trucks. Ontario, Calif.-based Phoenix Motorcars will provide 20 to 30 of the vehicles to Maui Electric by March in order to test battery technologies that use a “nano-titanite” system. It will be the first such test in the nation for Phoenix vehicles. “Electric vehicles will be less expensive to run and emit less total carbon dioxide than the same vehicle run on gasoline,” said MECO President Ed Reinhardt. “The numbers are even better when the power comes from renewable sources, and that’s what we hope to do.” Gov. Linda Lingle called the accord a significant step toward making Hawaii far more reliant on renewable sources of electricity. The six-month test on Maui will also determine how the trucks interact with the island’s electricity grid when they are recharging, as well as the devices used to connect the vehicles to an electrical source.
-Maui Weekly, December 18, 2008

The four-passenger, zero-emission, advanced battery electric SUV and SUT (truck) can travel at freeway speed. Equipped with a revolutionary lithium titanate battery, this SUV will travel over 100 miles on a single 10-minute charge.* Fully electric vehicles with a sophisticated chassis and regenerative braking.

* Off-Board High-Power 250kW Charger required for 10-minute charge.

The Center for Ecoliteracy website

The Center for Ecoliteracy, co-founded by Fritjof Capra, states, “We do not need to invent sustainable human communities. We can learn from societies that have lived sustainably for centuries. We can also model communities after nature’s ecosystems, which are sustainable communities of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Since the outstanding characteristic of the biosphere is its inherent ability to sustain life, a sustainable human community must be designed in such a manner that its technologies and social institutions honor, support, and cooperate with nature’s inherent ability to sustain life.”

Interesting pages at the site:
Sustainability
Community
Systems Thinking
Principles of Ecology
Competencies
Sustainability And Schools
Exemplars

Food Security: Bill Moyers Interviews Michael Pollan

Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, to discuss what direction the U.S. should pursue in the often-overlooked question of food policy.

PART I

PART II (click here)

Moyers and Pollan discuss:

• CHANGING THE WAY WE EAT
  Innovative schemes aiming to change the way our nation eats. View Will Allen, of Growing Power, a pioneer in the urban farming movement in action. Find out about what Alice Waters, international-known chef and sustainable farm advocate, is hoping to see on the White House Lawn. And take a virtual visit to one of artist Fritz Haeg’s Edible Estates.
• VOTING WITH YOUR FORK
  Find out simple ways that you can change the world one meal at a time.
• OUR DAILY BREAD — HUNGER RESOURCES MAP
  Why are America’s food banks suffering shortages? Find out what you can do to help.
• DEBATING THE FARM BILL
  Is it a farm bill or a food bill? What’s behind the debate over American farm policy.

Pollan is author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto; The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals; A Plant’s-eye View of the World: A Place Of My Own and advice to the next president in An Open letter to the Farmer in Chief, an important article in the New York Times Magazine.

Maui Island Plan—South Maui Public Workshop, October 23

October 23rd, 2008
Kihei Community Center
5:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.

Provide Input to the Maui Island Plan. Comment and provide suggestions regarding proposed urban growth boundaries. Ensure that the interests of South Maui are incorporated into the Maui Island Plan.

For information contact Dave Michaelson, 270-7214, Maui County Long Range Planning at or david.michaelson@mauicounty.gov

Electronics eWaste Recycling, October 25

• Saturday, October 25, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
• Maui Community College
   Large parking area nearest to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center
   (on Wahinepio/Cameron Way)

You can recycle your eWaste (old computers, printers, faxes, TVs, radios, calculators, cameras, phones, etc) at the statewide recycling opportunity at UH locations on all islands.

Click here for details.

All electronics contain hazardous materials that must be disposed of in an environmentally sensitive approach to avoid being released into our air, ground water, and soil. Education & Government eWaste Disposal Days 2008 provides an opportunity for safe and environmentally friendly disposal of eWaste regardless of the manufacturer, free of charge. All equipment collected will be processed in North America in an environmentally responsible way and recycled into commodity grade materials such as metals, plastics, and glass. Recycling and disposal services are provided courtesy of Apple.

What are Hui Gardens?

One neighbor provides the land for a hui garden and several neighbors share the responsibility of building, tending and all in the hui receive the bounty.

The first of this new model garden is planted and underway. Keep posted for our reports of  growing ideas and practices.

Please also post your own experiences of hui-style gardens.

For information or to join the Hui Gardens team contact the team coordinator.

Fundraising & Grants Team

As SMS seeks to carry out the interests of our community, we are going to need some operating funds and there are funders ready and willing to give us the money to do just that. The job of the FC will be to research grants, write grants, and find all possible ways to create finances and resources for South Maui Sustainability to be able to take on projects, serve the community, educate ourselves and others, and live our Mission Statement.

For information or to join the Financial, Fundraising & Grants team contact Maury King

Outreach & Public Relations Team

• Spread the word about South Maui Sustainability through all available channels and creatively come up with new ways to increase our ‘supporter’ base.
• Build bridges with government, developers, community groups. Learn about ways to live sustainably and promote the ideas.
• Maintain a state of the art web site posting information about and links to all aspects of living a sustainable future.

For information or to join the Public Relations/Outreach team contact Maury King

Government & Legislation Team

Exploring public policy and representation that supports a fully sustainable future on Maui.

For information about the Government & Legistlation Team, contact team coordinator