Maui Mahalo - Its better down where its wetter

Today I did my first scuba dive...in Maui of all places!!! We went with Lahaina Divers, a local dive company. They did a great job introducing all us newbies to the ABCs of diving and then we were off for our first dive. After passing a few short tests, we started our first of two dives. Not 30 seconds into the dive and a HUGE giant sea tortoise swam right over us. REALLY amazing. From there it was lots of beautiful coral and many, many species of fish. Being a rower with a big set of lungs I was the first one up from the dive. Our 2nd dive was closer to shore over an old pier that had fallen during a hurricane. The town decided to leave the broken pieces of pier in the water to assist coral development and provide habitat for fish species. A great conservation story but also awesome for divers. I was lucky enough to see two more tortoises and many other species of fish.

Maui Mahalo - The road to Hana

We had another early start today as our plan was to drive the whole south Island. The road to Hana is known for its beauty and it is one of Paul’s favorite trips. There were lots of amazing waterfalls along the way, some ranches and can farms, and many incredible plants along the way. Our only diversion before Hana was a stop at Kahanu Garden, home of the Hale O Pi’ilani Heiau, the largest sacred temple ruins in Hawaii. The site was breathtaking and I felt like I was at last connecting with some authentic Maui. You could definitely also see how the ahupua’a system worked. This was by far one of my favorite experiences in Maui. I hope to spend more time here and learn more about the site and ancient systems next time I’m here.

We had a short lunch in Hana and were then off again on our tour of the south island portion of Maui. There were lots more amazing plants and small villages along the way, some more taro farms and a beautiful old church near the seashore along the way. I was quite amazed at the change in biogeography on the route…from lush to complete desert. There were a few more small ruins along the way as well, demonstrating that the local peoples made use of all the island no matter what the conditions.

After a miserable but usual traffic jam from Kahalui (the main city on Maui) to Lahaina (the town just south of where we were staying) we made it back just in time to catch the Feast at Lele…essentially a Luau that featured food and dance from around Polynesia. WOW! Absolutely amazing. Being a conservation biologist that as in to culture as I am biology I was really blown away.

Maui Mahalo - The high way to Haleakala

Today started with a 2:45am alarm. We were off to see the sunrise at Haleakala National Park, the highest point on Maui. Early along the way we saw one the sugarcane fields that was set on fire. Pretty amazing sight for 3:00am in the morning. The road to Haleakala was a long, windy, steep and cold drive up but well worth it. The sunrise was breathtaking but even more exciting for me was getting to see silversword, a species of plant found only high on Haleakela. In addition, there were several conservation programs for migratory birds in the area. All in all, a wonderful morning for a conservation biologist.

On the way back, Paul and I stopped at Kula Lodge for a fantastic breakfast that included pancakes covered in macadamia nuts and coconut syrup. The beautiful botanical gardens that surrounded the lodge were amazing as well. Once back home, it was snorkel time. With the snorkels we were able to go out much further and see a lot more. We saw many fish and were lucky enough to see a sea tortoise and a spotted eagle ray. That night it was back to Leilani’s for an organic Caesar salad with local fish. Of course the lava flow cocktails were pretty tasty as well.

Maui Mahalo - Janet's Bio Beetle to Julias banana bread

Whoa! I think I’ve met at true force of nature in Maui. I came across Janet Six’s name and email when searching for “sustainable” and “maui” on Google. She’s a Ph. D candidate at University of Hawaii and is in charge of special projects at Maui Community College. One of MCC’s special projects is called Sustainable Living Institute of Maui. The project has a lot of great partners that ensure it will be a success including MCC, Steve Case, founder of AOL, the Maui Land & Pineapple Company, and Earth University. I think Janet, an archaeologist by education, knows EVERYTHING sustainable that has gone on and is going on in Maui, in Hawaii, and in many other island nations. She told us about how things used to work in Maui, dividing up resources in the ahupua’a system (a division of land from mountain top to sea shore that allowed groups to hunt, farm and fish) and how Maui is moving away from sugarcane as a primary monoculture and more towards other, more drought tolerant plants…including sunflowers which can be used as a biomass fuel source. Even better, Janet had just bought a new diesel Volkswagen Beetle and was going to be putting the first tank of biodiesel in the tank. Couldn’t pass up the photo op so we raced off with her to Pacific Biodiesel, the first biodiesel station in the US. She gave me many more sustainability contacts in Maui and the rest of Hawaii that I hope to meet up with during my trip. Janet also solved a great mystery for us. We noticed early on in our trip that the wiliwili trees all looked dead across the island. According to Janet, the Ethrina gall wasp, a stowaway from Taiwan, recently invaded the island and is responsible for the tree sickness. The wasps got the non-native Wiliwili's and has now spread to the native wiliwili forests. We’ve seen a few trees that are making a comeback, hopefully more will in the future. No question, Janet’s one of my new favorite people.

After the great morning with Janet it was off to tour the north part of Maui. Lots of beautiful scenery, winding roads, cattle ranching, taro farming and even a great pit stop for Julia’s best banana bread. The bread was great but it was also a chance for me to see taro farming up close. I’m fascinated at how resources were divided in earlier times and plan to spend a lot more time learning about Hawaiian practices past and present. The rest of the trip up north was mostly filled with more beautiful scenery and more resorts as we approached Kaanapali. One interesting story that we had heard and Janet retold us involved the Ritz Carleton Resort. Story goes that they were leveling the area by the shore with sandblaster for the resort foundation; before long bones started dropping out of the hillside. Over 1100 were unearthed before they stopped. Well, no surprise, the site was a sacred burial site. In the end, the bones had to be returned properly per proper ancient Hawaiian protocol, the ground reblessed and the hotel had to be moved up the hill. Thankfully, there is less of this sort of thing happening these days as the tourist industry has come to respect the local culture much more and the state has become much more aggressive about such sites.

Maui Mahalo - Just another day at the beach

After an early morning run where I met several egrets making their way to the local golf course for their breakfast I had a very slow morning. A little breakfast here, a little read there, but finally I made my way down to the beach. I didn’t have a snorkel yet and only my prescription goggles but I did the best I could to explore the closest coral reef. Very quickly I saw some beautiful local fish. Though I could only make quick trips down it was well worth it. Our first night we dined at home on local fish, produce and local organic juice. Yumm-ee! I was also very relieved to discover that the condo we're staying at, The Whaler, has an extensive recycling program. Not so hot on water conservation efforts (they wash down the large pool deck every morning), but at least they have some green efforts underway.

Maui Mahalo - Just another day at the beach

This is the first travel day. I was able to find a lot of magazines with sustainability topics for the plane ride over...the usual suspects such as Dwell and Ready Made magazines. But I was also pleased to see that Fortune Magazine's cover "Walmart Saves the Planet". I know people either love or hate Walmart, but this is a pretty big milestone for sustainability going mainstream. The fact that Lee Scott, Walmart's CEO is starting to get sustainabilityis a pretty big deal. I'm going to try to check out their new organic section while on Maui...yes, there is a Walmart in Maui. There was also a really great article on taro farming in Hawaiian Airlines inflight magazine. We arrived pretty late in the afternoon so sped off to Costco to get some of the best local fish. Then it was back to the condo and off to dinner at Leilani's. I had some organic salad and a great local fish entree. I was surprised at how many non-local items there were on the menu. Guess you do still have to appeal to tourists. Oh, and I am totally blown away by all the flowers and plants here. A conservation biologists dream!

Maui Mahalo - "E `ai i kekahi, e kapi i kekahi"

"Eat some, salt some" is a great Hawaiian philosophy...eat some now and save some for later. I'm off to Maui for the first time ever (or any of the Hawaiian islands for that matter) and absolutely loving it. Of course for the amazing beauty of the scenery, flora and fauna, but also for the many things I'll learn about traditional and modern sustainability efforts under way. I'm traveling with my friend Paul and two other friends. Paul's family has had a time share condo for many years so it will be great to hang with someone who knows the island well. We're staying in Ka'anapali just north of Lahaina, the historic Royal center of Maui.

An excellent EMAs

Had a great time at the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards last night here in LA. Lots of celebs, great nominees, Willie Nelson received the music award and Daryl Hanah the ongoing achievement award. Afterward got a chance to speak to Wendy Malick and Daryl Hannah a bit. Julia Butterfly Hill, one of my heroes, was also in the house so it was great catching up with her.

BSR bash in NYC

Just finishing up our second year helping out Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) with their annual conference, styling and producing their registration area and gala reception. It was another great year of demonstrating the amount and breadth of sustainability efforts underway. And, it's always great to hear about what companies are doing in the corporate social responsibility arena. Got to hang with some of our NY friends which is always great too. Just before I left for Seattle got to have a quick meeting with Sara Cross from Cool not Cruel, model and entomologist Summer Rayne Oakes, Josh Dorfman of Vivavi and Mark Spellun of Plenty Magazine...such awesome, inspiring people. Can't wait to get out there and make some change myself.

Fashion and fabric in Portland

Rebecca (SSF Co-founder) and I just finished presenting at the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) conference in Portland. We had a great turnout for our session and the group was really engaged. A lot of academic folks so I think we wowed them by demonstrating the amount and breadth of efforts underway across style/design industries and in particular in the fashion industry, from Armani using hemp to Ermenegildo Zegna using bamboo. Afterward we made a quick trip to check out Aysia Wright's new boutique The Green Loop just outside of Portland. VERY cool stuff.

I'm baack...

Fresh back from my trip to Cuba. I'll collect all the photos and stories and post them ASAP. In the mean time let me just say it was awesome...as much for the culture as the fieldwork. Stay tuned...

Cuba or bust!

OK sslog fans...I'm off to Cuba through the 28th to take part in an Earthwatch project researching sandhill cranes. Inspiring style folks is great work but I have to say I'm SO PSYCHED to put my degree (conservation biology) to work. May be able to update sslog, may not. I will Certainly have a big report when I return though. Stay tuned..

The Big Green Apple

I finally got the excuse I was looking for to head back to the big apple. Angela Lindvall, fashion model, actress and founder of Collage Foundation hosted a fundraiser and Fashion Week postparty with fellow organic style guru Danny Seo. It was great catching up and we conspired a bit on future projects. I also got a chance to talk to Angela's huband William quite a bit. Originally from South Africa and a professional diver, William's got a lot of great stories.

I also got a chance to catch up with other SSF-NY steering committee members Kim Heismann from PopSustainability and Mary Gelhar, fashion director of GenArt.

On my way out to the airport I made a pitstop in Brooklyn to check out an awesome new store called The Future Perfect, started by Satellite David Alhadeff. David's concept was to showcase high style accessories, home furnishings and artwork by local designers...what he discovered was that many of the products had great sustainability stories as well including coffee tables from salvaged wood, table runners from Donna Karan scraps and redesigned dishware.

photos: The Future Perfect store, Scrapile

Bioneers

Greetings from the Bioneers conference in San Rafael. What was I thinking? Why haven't I attended a Bioneers conference before??? This is where it's all at. I've done lots of green business conferences in my day but Bioneers is by the far the best...of all worlds. Business, academia, youth, government, and yes...lots of fabulous hippies, drum circles, dancing, etc.

I've hooked up with lots of old friends and made some great new ones as well. The best part so far has been the incredible energy and creativity of the youth. Their projects are incredible and their dedication is inspiring. I'll do a full write up of the weekend on Monday, stay tuned...

Margaret, Margaret, Margaret!

My last day in NY was a busy one before my flight at 6:00pm. I started the day with a meeting with Margaret Lydecker, local organizer of Greendrinks. It was a random hookup via the Greendrinks website but it turned out Margaret was way into all kinds of sustainable style issues. Her core work at Robin Reigi is around industrial design materials for architects and interior designers so she showed me all sorts of great new sustainable materials available these days, including a flooring that incorporates recycled bottles from Brooklyn. WAY cool!

Next it was off to a meeting with a company that is far and away the leader in the beauty industry regarding social and environmental responsibility. Then off to lunch at Counter a new vegetarian/organic restaurant and bar in the East Village to have lunch with Caron Atlas, an expert on sustainability, particularly cultural, indicators. Yet another yummie lunch. Finally...zoomed off to the airport...such a NY moment.

From Mary Gelhar to Greyston

On my way to meet with Mary Gelhar of GEN ART I ran across the Chelsea Whole Foods Market. Wow, what a place AND oasis in the bustling big apple. Afterwords I was off to learn more about the Greyston Foundation in Yonkers, NY. Famous for their Greyston Bakery founded on budhist principles, the bakery also happens to bake the brownies for Ben & Jerry's ice cream. These days the Greyston Foundation has gotten into all sorts of social and environmental projects including sustainable real estate development. Karen Tumelty gave an awesome tour of their work around town and it was an awesome experience to see what a smaller town could do once given the right inspiration.

Next I was off to visit Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director of Earthpledge. They too are doing some incredible projects in the big city including rooftop gardening, waste=fuel and education around sustainable farming.

I finished off the long day at a Green Ground Zero meeting that took place at the offices of Pop Sustainability. A really exciting opportunity to get green building in probably what will soon be one of the most visible developent projects in the world. Pop Sustainability is doing some REALLY cool stuff so I'm excited to follow up with them as well.

Wise Win

I escaped the very hot and humid afternoon with some apparel industry folks at the Hudson Hotel, one of Ian Schrager's masterpieces with incredible gardens and other earthy touches. I later had dinner with Winifred Armstrong tonight. Win is an ecological economist with Columbia University's SIPA. She had a TON of great environmental and sustainability education contacts and took me on a wonderful walk into Central Park where I met the local egret and duck celebrities.

Finished off with a great dinner at the Organic Grill.

From Aveda to Zegna

Finally made it to one of the rare organic restaurants in NY last night. Herban Kitchen turned out to be quite a nice place. A little on the pricey side but then I AM in NY and it is ORGANIC so I guess I should expect as much. The food (I had the turkey meatloaf) was very tasty so I hope to go back and try a few more items. There's also an AVEDA store nearby.

Started today by watching the Celia Cruz processional. An amazing singer, an amazing life and a quintessential NY moment for me...a major processional and great conversations with the folks next to me. Then made a stop by the Ermenegildo Zegna shop. Absolutely the best clothing you can find for men and they have a surprising environmental background. Then it was off the UN where I got some cool baseball caps that I can - you know me - where backwards for the 'chillin' look. THEN I stumbled upon Dag Hammarskjord Plaza with their beautiful Katherine Hepburn Gardens. OK...this is my favorite place in NY now.

Headed to the Organic Grill in the East Village for Dinner. Tonight it was vegie lasagna - my favorite - and the OG didn't let me down. Had a great organic grean tea rootbeer too. Yummmeeee! Happened to walk past another place I'm going to try on Thursday called Counter. Stay tuned...

Sean in the Big Apple!

That's right sslog fans, Sean is in NEW YORK CITY making some official SSF visits, as well as scouting on my own to seek out what sort of sustainable style options the Big - green/or not so green - Apple might have in store.

Thursday evening started with a bang as I attended GEN ART event called IGNITE showcasing the winners of Heineken's Heineken Honors..."The Beat of Fashion" initiative to support emerging African American and Hispanic designers. The winners: Alonzo Ramos, Cornell Collins, Dulce de Leche ans Sistahs Harlem New York. With cars, water sculptures, several screenings going on, the fashion installation, groovy music and hip New York crowd it was a full-on fashion, film, art and music (live DJ) event. You know how SSF likes these kind of cross-industry events.

Today I finally, after waiting like three months having seen an article on them in the May Vogue (or was it April?), found the store Some Odd Rubies, a Ludlow St. boutique that gives new life to vintage clothing through a bit of 'artistic licence'. Call it vintage, recycled fashion, whatever you like - SSF loves it. One of our favorite mottos is "reduce, reuse, recycled, RESEW" and these guys are all over it. Summer Phoenix and Odessa Whitmore have their hands in things as two of the three partners, but it's obvious the place stands firmly on its own as it was a buzz on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon. Ruby, the third partner in the trio, was awesome (especially given that I had pretty much completely lost my voice from partying the night before) and seemed really into SSF. With folks like Some Odd Rubies and Tara Subkoff leading the way, hopefully recycled fashion will continue to take off.