Green_and_Sustainable

If one saw our planet from outside the solar system it would be as plain as the daylight itself, to see what makes us stand out from our surrounding planetary neighbors. It is amazing that something of such grand importance to all life can be disregarded by so many in such a short period of time. With this resource accounting for over 70% of the earth’s surface, most of which is saltwater, we as humans have treated this precious resource as our worldwide dumping ground. Our oceans, rivers and lakes have become holding cells for all the refuse, chemicals, garbage and pollutants that we don’t want to be in our own meticulously manicured backyards. Our water resources are all interconnected to one another through run-offs, streams, rivers, lakes, seas, oceans and glacial icecaps. How we treat or manage one area ultimately has effects on the entire system, even if at a microscopic level. So, over the last 100-200 years we have been extremely irresponsible as a global community when it comes to treating our water resources with the respect that it deserves. We have to work together as a group, independent from social or religious views to conquer this huge task of conserving our water resource and trying to do everything we can to clean up the water we currently have, weather it be saltwater or the much more limited freshwater supply. This topic is going to be covered from a different, more local perspective by viewing the challenges it creates for a landlocked island in the Pacific Ocean as well as viewing some of the solutions available for the island. Maui, Hawaii is the second largest of Hawaiian Islands with a land mass of just over 700sq. miles. Most of the population on the island sits along the 120 miles of coastline that the island has to offer. The residents of Maui have become conscience once again of how important it is to care for the local resources the island offers and what steps they have to take to create a sustainable island life. By looking at what can be done in this relatively controlled, miniature environment, we can begin to see what can be done on a larger scale in different areas of the world to conserve and replenish our natural resources. Through education, planning and research the residents can look at a plan on a manageable level to monitor sustainable progress when it comes to caring for the islands freshwater supply. They can also look at some of the effects we can not control, like the various forms of ocean debris that wash up on their shores daily as well as what covers the surrounding ocean floor. So we are reviewing two problems at the same time that are very interconnected, the overuse of freshwater as well as the contamination of freshwater and saltwater resources. As much as one would like to divide the topics into separate categories, they work together as one. We need to first look at where the water comes from to understand its path to the final destination, our faucets and then the ocean. In Maui, the clouds are brought to the island by trade winds from the northeast, where they have formed from evaporated surface water elsewhere. The rainforest in the two island mountainous regions catch the clouds along their floating journey across the Pacific Ocean. The cool mountain air condenses the clouds to form rain. This rain flows into Maui’s streams, creeks and ditches, while some penetrate the ground and are held in natural underground aquifers. These aquifers provide the island with most of it’s freshwater that is delivered to local homes and businesses. This used tap water combined with the excess rain, eventually washes across or under our sprawling urbanized areas and carry all the surface pollutants with it, emptying into the ocean. There are various contributions to the problem across the world, but there is one common denominator that is linked to all contributing factors, they are all caused by human interaction. By taking a look at Maui, we can look at how to solve problem be looking at the factors that have caused it on a small, but evenly distributed scale. Maui is part city, part country, part off the grid. It also has a varied population in age, race, gender, ethnic, and economic and social backgrounds to represent a slice of the world population. It has a land mass that is confined and can be easily monitored and researched. The largest contributing factors are overuse, misuse and contamination. Over the course of human history, the interaction we have had with water has been largely successful to our advances in the modern world, but it has come with a cost. In the past we have been fairly respectful of our water resource, but over the last 100-200 years, we have become very careless with the way we interact with this precious resource. |Some Contributing Factors Of Water Overuse or Water Contamination | |Agricultural Chemical Run-Off |Basic Unused Overuse Of Water | |Improper Disposal Of Rubbish In Landfills |Leaking Home Or Business Fixtures | |Cityscape That Increases Surface Run-Off |Extreme Water Flow In Home Or Business Fixtures | |Deforestation |Agricultural Overuse Of Water | |Direct Ocean Dumping |Swimming Pools And Other Recreation Uses Of Water | |Acidic Rainfall |Many Others… | This could be like many other informational paragraphs that focus on informing the reader by naming a laundry list of how this problem affects the inhabitants of the world. In this reading, it’s not going to happen. We are grown adults that all have the ability to see that what we are doing is not healthy for the water supply, and not healthy for all that depend upon it. The affects are so numerous at this point that it can not be put into a document, a book, or a research document of any readable length. Every single living thing on earth has been affected by this problem. The overuse of freshwater leads to unwarranted depletion of our freshwater resources. This leads to less freshwater for human consumption, less freshwater in our streams, rivers and lakes to promote life that is dependent on freshwater to survive. Less usable freshwater combined with increased population does not match up under any circumstance and begins to cause territorial protection problems where freshwater is more bountiful, against areas that are freshwater deprived. If the freshwater disappears in particular areas that are governed by political and religious borders, how would one borrow such a sacred resource from another when that time comes' Under today’s circumstances it goes to the highest bidder. So, something has to be done to prevent such a basic human right such as water, from becoming a resource for only the wealthy. When it comes to the affects that contamination causes on our freshwater and saltwater resources, the horrifying examples are endless. From disease to death, species endangerment to species extinction, it affects all living life forms on the planet. We are all interconnected as species and as one group is affected, we all will be affected. In the terms of water use, misuse and contamination, humans over the last two centuries have had zero positive effects. We have been reactive to the research that shows up the damage we are doing to this resource, but under no circumstance have we as humans done positive things for this resource without being reactive to the harm we have caused. Some of the reactive actions we have taken are a good start to correcting the problem that we have caused. Over the last 25 years this problem has been widely recognized and has been a growing concern for communities across the world. Currently, there are many sustainability strategies and solutions in place, but they are not enforced across the board, which is where education has to be taught on a world level to conquer the problem that affects all of us. Some of the current solutions that are in place are very good and extremely useful, it just takes an understanding from the public that is has to be done by everyone, all the time while seeking out ways to improve upon these solutions. Everyone has to have their eyes on the same prize, plentiful clean freshwater and healthy saltwater for our oceans to harbor quality life for all its inhabitants. Some useful solutions are listed in the chart below and are a great beginning for all of us. |Water Conservation Techniques You Can Practice Around Your Home | |Save Water In The Bathroom | |Check Your Toilet For Leaks |Take Baths In A Partially-Filled Tub | |Stop Using The Toilet As An Ashtray Or A Wast Basket |Turn Off Water After You Wet Your Toothbrush | |Take Shorter Showers |Check Faucets And Pipes For Leaks | |Install Water-Saving Shower Heads Or Flow Restrictors |Rinse Your Razor In The Sink In A Few Inches Of Warm Water | |Displace Water By Filling A Water Bottle With Sand and |Each Individual In Your Household Should Flush One Less Time Per | |Placing It In Your Toilet Tank |Day - Doing So Can Result Many Gallons Per Month In Savings | |Save Water In The Kitchen and Laundry | |Use Your Automatic Dishwasher Only For Full Loads |Check Faucets And Pipes For Leaks | |Use Your Automatic Washing Machine Only For Full Loads |If You Wash Dishes By Hand, Don't Leave Water Running | |Keep A Bottle Of Drinking Water In The Refridgerator - |Don't Let The Faucet Run While You Clean Your Fruits And | |Running Tap Water To Cool It Off For Drinking Is Wasteful |Vegetables | |Save Water Outside Your Home | |Use A Broom, Not A Hose To Clean Driveways and Sidewalks |Don't Run The Hose While You Wash Your Car | |Water Your Lawn Only When It Needs It |Tell Your Children To Not Play With The Hose And Sprinklers | |Deep Soak Your Lawn - Water Long Enough For The Moisture To |Water During The Cool Parts Of The Day - Early Morning Is Better | |Soak Down To The Roots |Than Dusk Since It Helps Prevent The Growth Of Fungus | |Put A Layer Of Mulch Around Trees And Shrubs |Position Sprinklers So Water Doesn't Land On Paved Areas | |Attach A Rain Sensor To Your Sprinkler System |Xeriscape Your Lawn With Vegitation That Is Suitable For Your | | |Area | Through education, community involvement and future government support we can determine the best course of action moving forward to solve this international crisis. The local sustainability plan for Maui follows. This plan needs to be simplistic, just as simplistic as the solution to regain control of our water resources. This can not be a bill, a law, a mandate we wait for the federal or state government to put into place for us. We have to want this as citizens and we have to be the ones to control our own actions for any plan to be successful. The government can help assist us in moving forward, but there has to be enough community support to show them we care enough to do what is right for our environment. The challenges are many with this fight. The biggest challenge is encourage everyone in the community to change their daily habits to support a water friendly environment. Once enough people are united the other large scale challenges will seem small because of the great support of the community. When many minds are focused on the task, the challenges become easy to overcome if you have the interest of the source in mind and not what short term hardships it creates for you as a person or your company or your entity. |Action Items |Action Steps |Timeline | |(in the correct order) | | | |Research and identify the effects of |Review environmental Web sites and journals. |Month 1-6 | |water overuse, misuse and | | | |contamination |Document the sources of water pollution/misuse/overuse and both | | | |environmental and health effects of water pollution/misuse/overuse. | | | | | | | |Document video interviews of environmental researchers and facilitators. | | |Develop an education program about |Create the presentation to show why this program is important. The |Month 1-6 | |water overuse, misuse and |program must address the water pollution/misuse/overuse effects, the | | |contamination. |changes that will be required on a personal and business level in the | | | |community, and the challenges and eventual benefits the program has to | | | |offer. | | |Schedule a presentation day and time.|Confirm a site for conducting a meeting that addresses these issues in an |Month 6 | | |open forum in a centrally located are of Maui. Maui Community College has| | | |the proper location and resources available to properly conduct meeting. | | | | | | | |Document the audio and visual equipment needed for presentation and layout| | | |of the room. | | | | | | | |Approve all handout materials that will be provided during presentation. | | |Identify and invite community |Select participates to serve on a vocal board for providing feedback that |Month 5-6 | |participants that represent a |properly represents various sectors in Maui. | | |statistical cross-section of Maui | | | |County. |Create and distribute flyers to homes and business announcing the | | | |presentation and encourage as many members of the community to attend as | | | |possible. | | |Acquire feedback from these |During and immediately after the presentation, acquire feedback from |Month 6-7 | |participants to capture community |participants and their represented sector to understand current level of | | |interest and support. |community involvement and to understand current methods of sustainability | | | |to compare to future findings | | |Review feedback and incorporate |Review finding and incorporate into sustainability plan to see where the |Month 8 | |agreed upon ideas into the |strongest level of support needs to be and how to accompany what is | | |sustainability plan |already being done. | | |Create breakout groups to manage |Hold elections to develop groups and group leaders to handle each smaller |Month 8-9 | |smaller, more focused tasks. |task. | | | | | | | |Develop communication plan between all parties invoved. | | | | | | | |Set up monthly communication dates where collected data is reviewed and | | | |shared with others in various breakout groups. | | |Educate the business and residential |The education begins. Hands on, grass roots movement to educate the |Month 9-24 | |community thru these small focus |residential and business sector. | | |groups. | | | | |Person to person involvement to join the group, participate in group | | | |studies and provide feedback at the 24 month mark. | | |Review new feedback after education |Review and collect data from all participants |Month 24 | |session. | | | |Schedule a follow up meeting to | Conduct follow up meeting to reconvene and compare results from pre-study|Month 24 | |review data analysis and make |period vs. post-study period. | | |adjustments moving forward. Invite | | | |participants from other communities. |Discuss how these actions have helped or hurt our common goal. | | | | | | | |Note improvements that can me made in each smaller group. | | | | | | | |Invite participants from outside Maui to attend meeting, ask questions and| | | |develop interconnected relationships with their community or organization | | | |to encourage future plan growth in interested outside communities. | | Sustainability plan benefits are as numerous as the challenges that come before it. Clean city streets, properly maintained compost areas and landfills, clean drinking water, abundant freshwater for all people at very little cost, cleaner ocean saltwater to reenergize the population of sea life, less disease from water contamination and a focused effort on what it will take on a larger scale to see this all the way through are some of the biggest benefits. With Maui being landlocked, it has the ability to see the freshwater benefits in a very short period of time. The results are not infused with uninterested surrounding parties that are not willing to participate. Maui will still have to endure ocean damage from irresponsible use thousands of miles away, but will see small results from responsible local use. The biggest support in fixing this situation is societal support. It has to start with a paradigm shift at a personal level. There has to be changes that are made on personal level that are just a way of living life differently. Once this goal is the focus of many the government support will be easy due to not having to battle the public groups that are in opposition. Government could help in a number of ways. It could implement fines for misuse of water, leaking pipes that go unrepaired, incentives for businesses to support responsible water use as well as residential support in terms of water efficient appliance rebates or tax credits as well as many other supporting tools. Global support will come from education and example of success that is being achieved on a smaller scale. People learn from experience and education and if they see these well-developed systems in place, it will be easier for them to support and adopt themselves.