A Better Community Begins at Home

Casa Coco

I try to live my life consciously with as little impact on the environment as possible.  I’ve found living a sustainable lifestyle to be a constant learning process.  A little work in this area can reap a lot of rewards.

Solar

The house currently has a total of 47, 225-watt SunPower photovoltaic panels which account for more than 100% of the home’s power needs.  I contracted Sunetric Hawaii for the installation.

Since HECO does not currently have buy-back excess power generated by consumers, I plan to offer free solar energy to any of my neighbors who choose to invest in an electric mode of transportation.

Solar Fan

It can get HOT in Hawaii.  Most of us don’t have the luxury of air conditioning in our homes.  I’ve invested in a solar fan for the hottest room in my home which has reduced the temperature by some ten degrees during the hottest summer days.

Organic Garden

Beets, carrots, onions, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, peppers, squash, okra, herbs such as parsley, lemongrass, chervil, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme…  All these foods are being produced right in my back yard with very little effort (minus the TLC). Thank you, MA'O Organic Farms!

Vermicomposting

Vermicomposting is a composting method whereby you feed your organic foodwaste to earthworms housed in a special container.  Once the worms eat the organic foodwaste, you can harvest the odorless worm manure as an excellent source of nutrient-rich composting material for your garden.  I got a vermicomposting system called “Can-o-Worms” from Mindy over at Waikiki Worms.  Once my worm colony reaches full maturity, my system will be able to process up to one pound of food waste per day!

Water Catchment

I have a small 50-gallon rainwater tank on my deck that provides fresh water for some of my plants.  It’s called a Water Hog.  Ultimately I intend to install a larger-scale rainwater harvesting system to provide for all of my yard's irrigation needs.