When historians in the future look back at 2009, it will appear as the Golden Age of Consumption. This moment will probably be remembered as the time of the biggest cars, biggest homes on large pieces of land designed with excessive use of raw materials, water thirsty landscapes of ornamentals and not edibles, closets filled with extraordinary amounts of possessions. Lucky we live this age, eh?

Historians will also know what happened next. How we got from the Golden Age of Consumption to the Age of Sustainability, where by definition it means managing resource use so the next generations can thrive as we have. I think most people would agree that different behaviors will be needed. The opposite of keeping up with the Joneses, unless the Joneses happen to be the greenest family on the block.

Will people be willing to change their mindset and actions to create a workable new reality? I don’t know. Short of a wakeup call in the form of a catastrophe (like ships not coming here for awhile with everything we consume) I think not. Because the world continues to look and operate just as we are used to. Gas and food are plentiful. There is more stuff than ever available to fill our closets with and it seems an expanding economy is the only way to measure success.

Much of design of the world – or is it just Maui? – seems to revolve around the privileged few and not the average ‘rest of us’. And they use a hugely disproportionate amount of resources and stuff. That doesn’t seem like a recipe for a sustainable future. This is where I intended to put a brilliant closing thought. Sorry, I don’t have one.

So, let’s hope there is a future for those historians to look back from, and let’s make them proud of us.

Maury King

What an enriching Saturday doing restoration work in Honokawai Valley with Uncle Ed and Punani Lindsey and the Maui Cultural Lands group. This group has been working for over 10 years to restore a valley that Hawaiians lived in hundreds of years ago. The whole valley was totally overgrown so if you came upon it you wouldn’t be able to tell people lived there. But as invasive species of plants and trees were removed, many stone walls were uncovered revealing an ancient lifestyle. It is thought about 600 people lived there, grew food and made their way to the ocean – about 2 miles – to fish. Such a magical place and a privilege to have a chance to be there and have a dose of Uncle Ed’s wisdom. Much taro has been planted - and sweet potatoes. One side is a steep cliff whose wall has a lifetime of stories written all over its face. and birds nests. and plants hanging. Sisal, which was brought to Hawaii to make rope for the shipping community. Looks like yucca. I spent the morning watering taro plants. As I knew it might be a week until someone came back, I was very careful not to miss any lest they not survive. Taro is a sacred and important plant to Hawaiians. Which is one reason they don’t like Monsanto genetically engineering it. It really goes against their cultural belief that the taro is the ancestor of Hawaiian people. Things like this hurt your heart when you hear about them. Some Hawaiians have become bitter and angry about violations of their culture again and again over time. Those that have found a better way to deal with unfairness, that stay centered and in their spirit, those become respected kupuna, elders of the community. After a lunch with some shared treats and good talkstory, I spent the afternoon walking up past where the valley has been cleared and you can see that there are more stone walls that you can’t see unless you know you are looking for them. This is how the whole valley must have looked. Then, I was handed a freshly sharpened machete and hacked at some tree stumps which had new growth coming from where they had been cut. Constant maintenance to keep out the invasives. Next, we took a short tour of many different native species that have been reintroduced. They all have the most beautiful names that you can’t pronounce or remember 30 seconds later, partly because you’ve already been told the name of the next plant. And the next.  Finally, we loaded into the back of the big flatbed for the horrendously bumpy ride back to where our cars awaited. Once in our own cars, we drove through the Kaanapali Coffee Estates – starting at $1.2 million – on our way down the hill to the highway for the 20 mile drive back from Lahaina to Kihei along a road so close to the water that you can stick out your tongue and have it come back salty. The views ain’t bad either.

Maury King

South Maui Sustainability hosted its first Edible Garden Tour on Saturday morning. We visited 3 really wonderful South Maui fruit and vegetable gardens and the owners spoke with pride about their accomplishments. The home we started at in Maui Meadows is in the process of converting from an ornamental yard to a lush sustainable permaculture food garden. There are hundreds of containers & in ground plantings. The second home is a masterpiece of permaculture design established over 25 years includes 44 edible species. The third home was a biodynamic intensive garden with an additional emphasis on Zen beauty and rich fragrance, unique diversity, in suburban area -bringing together many elements including Hawaiian plants.

Over 100 people showed up. We were surprised by the turnout, but it is really exciting to see that so many people are interested in learning about growing food. Many of our guests already have their own gardens. Great questions were asked of the homeowners and much information was shared. Pens moved furiously. Everyone cooperated in carpooling from the first home to the others. It really felt like South Maui Sustainability was fulfilling our mission.

Thanks very much to the gardeners that allowed us to visit their homes, and to our community of supporters that made this event an overwhelming success. It was a most gratifying experience. We will be doing it again.