Sustainability made simple
50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save Hawai’i
Gail L. Grabowsky
104 pp, $16.95
The Hawaiian archipelago, stretching 2,600 kilometers from the Big Island to the northwestern-most Kure Atoll, is the most remote chain of islands in the world. Over millennia, the terrestrial flora and fauna and ocean ecosystem have evolved very specialized species unique to these islands. Over 90 percent of Hawai’i’s native flora and fauna can be found nowhere else on earth; 25 percent of our marine ecosystem is unique to this chain as well.
Gail L. Grabowsky penned her recent release, 50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save Hawai’i, with the aim to inspire readers to malama ka’aina (care for the land). Her handbook (printed on recycled paper of course) is unique in that she focuses solely on sustainability practices relevant to Hawai’i. A book for doers, the detailed actions proposed are organized to create solution for 10 major environmental challenges: the loss of pristine places, coral reef degradation, overharvesting of marine resources, solid waste management, hazardous waste management, water consumption, energy, pollution, global warming and the loss of culture.
An associate professor and director of the Environmental Studies Program at Chaminade University and member of several environment councils, Grabowsky offers insight into these environmental challenges and has sculpted the text as a sourcebook of information, agencies and organizations as well as a list of specific actions that can be taken to benefit the this unique environment.
Whether it’s as simple as changing out the old light bulbs for a new energy saving compact fluorescent or as involved as lobbying congress for conservation-oriented policy changes, this sustainability handbook runs the gamut. According to Grabowsky, ‘Doing these things will nurture, restore, protect and show respect for the ‘aina.’
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