Smart Living Hawaii

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Blanch McMillen also known as AuntyBlanche. I have been meaning to meet this amazing woman and share her story for a while, and today is the day. She is the founder of Hui Mahi’ai’Āina, a homeless community program that provides village style housing, essential facilities, and long-term support for those facing hard t...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Judy Meredith with PRMG Hawaii. Today we will be discussing land loans and how someone can obtain land to build on. A topic of discussion by many who are looking to find that perfect family land larger than the typical 5-10,000 square foot lot, something you can grow food on, live off of, have space away from the hust...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Councilwomen, Andria Tupola. We will talk about affordable housing in Hawaii. The hurdles we face, how we are tackling the hurdles…also some solutions, ideas and action items worth discussing. Councilwoman Andria Tupola: Andria Tupola, Ph. D., was born in Kahuku, Oʻahu. She attended Kamehameha Schools and attended Bri...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Mindy Jaffe, the worm lady. We will discuss composting, vermicomposting and how worms play a significant role in our food waste reduction and the hierarchy to reduce food waste while growing our community. We will share the hurdles and challenges faced over the last 20+ years in this waste sector and what we have over...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Chad Waters, the founder and CEO of Hawaii Construction and Development Consulting HCDC. We will hear about a developers journey to sustainability and finding his true passion in green and sustainable building and development here in Hawaii. The hurdles, challenges and what he is doing to overcome them. With over 25 y...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Todd Cullison, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Nature Center. We will learn about the Hawaii Nature Center, their keiki programs, education and volunteer opportunities.   Todd Cullison has over 25 years in non-profit experiences with the majority concentrated on watershed restoration and environmental education. ...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Jacob Roberts, Eco Rotary Club of Kakaako’s current president. We will chat all about our Rotary Club, how it differs from some of the other Rotary clubs out there, the environmental impact and the cool volunteer projects we work on in Hawaii! Jacob is a field sales consultant at Sunrun, Specializing in helping homeow...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Ryan Naka, Director of Philanthropy and Marketing for Project Vision Hawaii. We will zero in on Project Vision Hawaii, homelessness and how we are tackling this housing crisis we face as a state. From Emergency Proclamations, respites, shelters, and long-term housing for the houseless, we will share how Project Vision...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Rob Van Tassell, the President and CEO of Catholic Charities Hawaii. Not only will we learn about their expansive services, we will zero in on housing for the people of Hawaii. Robert “Rob” Van Tassell is a leader with more than 20 years of experience in non-profit management, including social service, affordable hous...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Rebecca Staron the founder of HI-RES Grant Writing and Consulting. We will learn about the world of grant-writing and what it takes for sustainable nonprofits to secure grants and funding. Rebecca began her career in a small Connecticut restaurant and was immediately hooked on feeding people. She attended Johnson &amp...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Neil Sims the founder and CEO of Ocean Era, Inc. We will learn more about fisheries, farming fish and limu and the innovative work he is doing in this space to be more sustainable, regenerative and kind to the environment we live in. Neil is Founder and CEO of Ocean Era, Inc., in Kona, Hawai’i, working in developing o...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Dr. Albie Miles, where we will be discussing Hawaii’s food systems, the need for a comprehensive food system plan and food system resilience and disaster preparedness for Hawaii. We will learn about the Hawaii Food Summit coming up in December 2023 and how we can participate in Hawaii's food security, plan and leg...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Quinn Vittum, Executive Director of Reuse Hawaii. We will learn about construction and the huge carbon footprint it leaves behind. From demolition to new build its waste is massive and we must find solutions to this problem…thanks to Quinn and his team, they are paving the path to our future! Quinn Vittum is the Execu...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Matthew Gonser, the Chief Resilience Officer and Executive Director of Oahu’s Resilience Office: Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency. We will learn what Oahu as a county has for Resiliency Goals and how we are implementing those goals. Since January 2021 Matthew Gonser serves as the City and County...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Nicole Chatterson, the Director of Zero Waste Oahu.  We will dive into their mission, partners, initiatives and resources for our community and breakdown waste and how we can tackle this beast!   Nicole is the co-founder and Director of Zero Waste Oahu and also has her own consulting firm focused on developing sustain...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Brittany Zimmerman, the CEO and Chief of Innovation of Yummet. We will go into depth on Circular Living and focus on the future of waste. How we can transform our waste to concrete, hydrogen, water and biochar through Yummet's technologies, biomimicry and indigenous practices to empower communities to truly become...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Michael O’Keefe, the Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Services. Jumping into landfills and hurdles we face with our waste here on Oahu.              Mike has worked in the City & County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services (ENV) for 15 years, including 10 years in its Refuse Divisio...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Indy Rishi Singh who will be discussing community development, cooperatives and why regenerative civic engagement is so important to our communities today. Indy Rishi Singh is a well-being engineer & amateur social scientist. He's a co-founder of 2 cooperative businesses reimagining education, community develo...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Hiro Nago, the President of EM Hawaii, LLC and one of the team members of the Genki Ala Wai Project. We will learn about EM ®, Effective Microogranisms ® and ways we can use them to heal our soils, fresh water sources like our Ala Wai Canal (with Genki Balls) and more! EM ® in many countries is providing solutions to...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Sean Anderson and Greg Williams w/ Full Circle Farm. We will talk about the Full Circle Farm they established and how their regenerative practices with composting, chickens, food scraps and more lead to healthy soils. From what was once waste going to our landfills and our H-POWER incinerator we now have alternatives...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Joseph Valenti w/ the Albizia Project. We will talk about the Albizia tree, an invasive tree here in Hawaii and solutions due to it’s rapid growth as it takes over our Hawaii forests. From building homes, furniture and now surfboards, there is much to learn about this species and how we can restore our native ecosyste...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Sandy Ward, the co-founder and executive director of the Malama Puuloa Program. Greatest goal is to restore Puuloa, Pearl Harbor and they focus on community stewardship, education and partnerships. We will learn more about what they do, how they support our keiki and students and how they work within the community for...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Jake Johnson at Hale Partners where we will be discussing the successes and hurdles of building affordable housing in Hawaii. We will also learn about Homeaid Hawaii and what they do for our community, the newly built Kama’oku Kauhale, tiny home community for veterans and the homeless and where we see these developmen...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Bavan Nadarajah, as he shares the Lunch Out Of Landfills program he started in his high school. We will learn about a program that can be adopted in just about any town across America to help keep food, waste and recyclables out of the landfills while working with our youth. We will also dive into the mind of this 18...

Today we will continue our Sustainable Leaders series and have a Talk Story with Lindsay Correa, the Business Development Director of AirCare Hawaii and also a Healthy Homes Consultant. AirCare Hawaii helps create a safer, cleaner environment in your home, office or building. From indoor air quality, extensive mold testing, allergen testing, duct cleaning (HVAC) or emergency response to environmen...