Sustainable Initiatives by Andrea Dean » life coach hawaii

Growing Farmers in North Kohala

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:04:03 +0000

Check out my article The “Cool Factor” Bonds Youth and Farming in the November-December issue of Ke Ola Magazine.

The article is about the Uluwehi Farms / Hawaii Youth Agriculture Project CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in North Kohala. The project is growing food and farmers.

One of our “green businesses” in Hawaii is farming, but the high cost of land and inputs, and the low cost of imported food, have driven many farmers off the land. It is generally agreed that in order to re-localize our food production we need to have more farmers, and that means making farming an attractive and financially viable career option for our youth. Dashiell Kuhr of Uluwehi Farms / Hawaii Youth Agriculture Project / The Kohala Center (growing food and farmers takes many hands!) is one of the people helping to foster agricultural entrepreneurship among youth on Hawai’i Island.

Related Links:
North Kohala Food Forum
Hawaii Island School Garden Network
Hawaii Homegrown Food Network
Podcast on the Kohala Center’s Food Self-Reliance Program

Big Vision for the Big Island- Step by Natural Step

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:22:27 +0000

Check out my new story in this month’s Innov8 magazine (the Go!/Mokulele in flight magazine) about The Natural Step framework. The Natural Step is a framework/process that helps companies and communities plan for sustainability. The County of Hawaii just adopted The Natural Step as it’s framework for sustainability planning.

Scenes from the COC Hawaii 4th Annual Sustainability For Business Forum

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:07:41 +0000

I was recently a speaker at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii 4th Annual Sustainability For Business Forum on Oahu. I spoke about the Business Case for Sustainability and using the Natural Step framework for Sustainability Strategic Planning.

The Natural Step: A Roadmap for Hawaii Green Business

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:20:08 +0000

Sophia Bowart, Guy Kaulukukui, Samantha Birch, Giovanna Gherardi, Alex Frost and Andrea Dean (not pictured) meet to discuss using the Natural Step Sustainability Primer in Hawaii.

If you want to become a green business, organization or community- you need a plan to get there. And you need to have a common definition of sustainability that everyone can agree upon. Many businesses here in Hawaii are taking the first steps towards sustainability, picking the low hanging fruits (conserving energy, waste, water), but few are looking into the future. How can planning for sustainability help you to take advantage of new markets? How can planning for sustainability help you avoid future resource problems? How can you communicate sustainability to your customers, your suppliers?

I was a part of a group of 30 sustainability leaders on Hawaii Island who were trained in how to use The Natural Step framework for strategic planning for sustainability. The Hawaii County Resource Center and the Kohala Center partnered to bring The Natural Step senior trainers Sarah Brooks and Mike Purcell to Hawaii to train us.

Now a group of us are working to localize The Natural Step for Sustainability Primer, highlighting local examples of sustainable practices.

Net Impact: Social and Environmental Principle in Business

admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:12:14 +0000

Last week I gave a talk at the University of Hawaii, Schidler College of Business. I was invited by the local Net Impact chapter. The mission of the local chapter is to grow and support a community of leaders focused on making a positive environmental, social, and economic impact through the power of sustainable business. Our vision is to foster a new generation of business leaders who incorporate people, planet, and profits into decision-making and action to create a better world.

Following is my presentation (sorry, its a bit dark, but you can still hear it!)

09-07-09: Guy Kaulukukui on Food Self-Reliance

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:32:47 +0000

In this podcast I interview Guy Kaulukukui, Director of the Kohala Center’s Food Self-Reliance Program.

Guy Kaulukukui speaking at the North Kohala Food Forum

Guy has been tasked with developing a “critical path” to food self-reliance for Hawaii Island- mapping a strategy for how the island will decrease food imports and the increase consumption of local food. Guy Kaulukukui, who has a Ph.D. in economics education is uniquely suited to this complex task of how to transition from a import economy to a locally-based economy. Guy feels that it is important to increase the demand side of the food equation by reinforcing the message of eating locally produced food as well as working on increasing efficiency on farms to decrease the costs of local produce to the public.

If you are an itunes user, you can subscribe to my podcast through itunes and receive automatic weekly updates. Or you can listen below:

Buddha Self-Portraits

admin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:00:23 +0000

I am currently working my way through the book The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. One of the exercises is to take yourself on an artists date- by yourself. Today I took myself to the Hilton Waikoloa to steam, sauna and check out the Buddha collection.

Following are my Buddha self-portraits.

07-23-09: Using a Coach to Grow Your Green Business

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:47:58 +0000

Not everyone understands what a business coach is and the best way to use one. But instead of me telling the story- I have interviewed one of my green business clients, Forrest Arnold from HawaiiGreenRealty.com.

If you are an itunes user, you can subscribe to my podcast through itunes and receive automatic weekly updates. Or you can listen below:

Are you Ready for A Paperless Office?

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:07:32 +0000

I must admit that I found the idea of a paperless office very attractive… but could not see how I could put it into practice. Due to a bizarre set of circumstances, I was not able to get any of my papers out of my house for the last two weeks. Suddenly- I was paperless and loving it! Now to get rid of the filing cabinet and banker boxes of papers in my closet. Hmmmm…. Following is a guest blog post by Lindsay Sydenham from efilecabinet.com. I have not used this system, but knowing what a pain (and un-green) it is to file and sort paper, I am intrigued.

Go Green by Investing in a Paperless Office by Lindsay Sydenham
It takes 24 trees to produce one ton of printing and office paper.
I must admit that I found the idea of a paperless office very attractive… but could not see how I could put it intro practice. Due to a bizarre set of circumstances, I was not able to get any of my papers out of my house for the last two weeks. Suddenly- I was paperless and loving it! Following is a guest blog post by Lindsay Sydenham from efilecabinet.com. I have not used this system, but knowing what a pain (and un-green)it is to file and sort paper, I am intrigued.

Every year 4 Million tons of copy paper is used.
The number of trees used to produce copy paper for companies each year is astounding. It’s obvious why going green is a growing concern in the United States. Being environmentally conscious is finally becoming a priority in the business world. Businesses all over the country are looking for opportunities to become environmentally conscious in their business practices. Eco-friendly initiatives are not only beneficial for the environment, but they can save companies a considerable amount of money. It’s like the saying, “Hit two birds with one stone!”

One of the major ways that companies are going green is by investing in a paperless office. Ditch the paper and move to a completely electronic system. Paper is thrown away in the garbage in the United States more than any other material. Most businesses keep their records and information in hardcopy form, not databases, thus contributing heavily to the destruction of the earth’s forests.
The solution? Go paperless! Both small businesses and large businesses can benefit from investing in a paperless office where everything is stored safely in a large database. A document management system is perfect for businesses because it can help them to reduce their carbon footprint by lowering paper consumption. It can also substantially decrease the expenses associated with paper processing since there is no longer a pressing need for printing supplies, storage space, and the paper itself.
If you own your own business or work for a business that you think could benefit from going paperless, take five minutes today to request a live demo and get walked through the process of going paperless. The live demo will provide you the opportunity to have all of your questions answered. You can also take a look at a paperless office ROI calculator to calculate how much money you could save your business by moving to a paperless system. The ROI calculator will take information about the cost of employees, paper and use in your office and will compare the overall cost to the cost of a paperless management system. You will be shocked at what you will find!

Sources:
Paper Waste Statistics
Paperless Office

Sustainability Strategic Planning with The Natural Step Framework on Hawaii Island

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:29:59 +0000

I am looking for a few Sustainability Business Leaders who would like apply The Natural Step framework in their businesses.

I was recently part of a group of 30 sustainability leaders on Hawaii Island who were trained in how to use The Natural Step framework for strategic planning for sustainability. The Hawaii County Resource Center and the Kohala Center partnered to bring The Natural Step senior trainers Sarah Brooks and Mike Purcell to Hawaii to train us. Following are snippets from the training in which we applied the Natural Step framework towards sustainability issues in our County.

Mike Purcell, Natural Step Senior Trainer

Sarah Brooks, Natural Step Senior Trainer

Lynn VanLeuwan

Stefan Kropidlowski

Kathy Pomeroy

Ryan Peters