Going green while on Kauai

[Editor Note: This was originally published on 4/30/2009]

Kauai is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Each time I visit I want to do the right thing to care for the land. I do this not only because I am a guest to the island but also because I want to keep it beautiful for my next trip and for the future. It has always disappointed me a little that the island government have not been more proactive about creating the infrastructure that would keep the island beautiful. I do understand that for visitors, the last thing they want to worry about on vacation is separating the recycling.

In any case I’d like to make these suggestions to visitors who’d like to do a little extra to help keep the beautiful island beautiful.

Use less electricity. Practically all of the electricity on the island comes from a power plant that burns imported diesel fuel. Aside from the overall costs of transporting and using oil, there is also the pollution generated. Some homes have solar hot water heaters and panels while some big store also rely on solar power; Costco is one of them. However the island power co-op (KIUC) is not encouraging more use of solar. The typical resort is probably using oil generated electricity.

Buy locally produced food. Kauai is a net importer of food and doesn’t produce everything that most people would want to eat so it would be pretty difficult to only rely only on locally produced food. Additionally consider that all that imported food has travelled all the way from the mainland on a ship for a week or two. Go to the sunshine markets where you can get the best locally grown produce at often better prices than the two week old supermarket produce. I also love to try new things.

Bring a couple of grocery bags with you in your luggage and use them to shop, go to the beach or go out exploring. Each plastic bag from the store is shipped from the mainland, used once and then dumped at the landfill in Kekaha. Also if you have an insulated bag you can freeze water bottles overnight and place them in the bag. They will keep your groceries cold as you drive home from the store.

Recycle. It is probably not going to be as easy to recycle as it would be at home and some of the resorts are trying to support it but the infrastructure on Kauai is not quite there yet. Around the island there are recycling stations where you can put your recycling if your resort doesn’t have separate bins. In Poipu the recycling bins are across the street from Poipu Beach park. I’ll admit I am not always great about this.

Alan