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...