06-14-2008, 07:45 AM
I applaud you guys for looking into better less polluting ways to live, I really do. And you should do so for your own sakes and your own savings ... what a great discussion of alternative systems! I'm in awe of all the knowledge being pooled on this site.
but as far as making a difference in this state, and I don't see that the Big Island will feasibly be separated from the whole state, all the ecological savings in all of Puna amount to zip in the face of consumption in Honolulu alone.
I say this because I was thinking of Punaweb last week as I looked out on Honolulu from a 35th floor hotel room at night. The sheer amount of lights burning all night, every night, the A/C units pumping away, the streets bumper to bumper with cars at all hours.
I couldn't help but think how one night of consumption in this city outweighs all the fuel-saving efforts everyone here makes in a year, or maybe a lifetime ... (in other words, no real measurements, just an impression in the face of vast unchecked thoughtless consumption.)
So what is to be done about Honolulu? (and the rest of Oahu?)
I do wish the visitors to the island could be persuaded into doing less joyriding. They have no idea or could care less how much all the needless day trips impact us who live on the island. Money spent on gas doesn't seem to be an issue for people who can spend $500 a night for a place to sleep. I don't know if there is an answer.
By "needless" trips I refer to people who stay in Kona or Kohala (or anywhere) with the plan of every day being somewhere else on the island, with little time spent at the place they chose to stay. They "don't mind driving" because they do it at home. They don't think our traffic is bad because it's so much worse at home. It's so dramatic how much the highways here open up during the off months for tourism; it takes only 2/3 the time to get from Hilo to Waimea as it does during high season.
but as far as making a difference in this state, and I don't see that the Big Island will feasibly be separated from the whole state, all the ecological savings in all of Puna amount to zip in the face of consumption in Honolulu alone.
I say this because I was thinking of Punaweb last week as I looked out on Honolulu from a 35th floor hotel room at night. The sheer amount of lights burning all night, every night, the A/C units pumping away, the streets bumper to bumper with cars at all hours.
I couldn't help but think how one night of consumption in this city outweighs all the fuel-saving efforts everyone here makes in a year, or maybe a lifetime ... (in other words, no real measurements, just an impression in the face of vast unchecked thoughtless consumption.)
So what is to be done about Honolulu? (and the rest of Oahu?)
I do wish the visitors to the island could be persuaded into doing less joyriding. They have no idea or could care less how much all the needless day trips impact us who live on the island. Money spent on gas doesn't seem to be an issue for people who can spend $500 a night for a place to sleep. I don't know if there is an answer.
By "needless" trips I refer to people who stay in Kona or Kohala (or anywhere) with the plan of every day being somewhere else on the island, with little time spent at the place they chose to stay. They "don't mind driving" because they do it at home. They don't think our traffic is bad because it's so much worse at home. It's so dramatic how much the highways here open up during the off months for tourism; it takes only 2/3 the time to get from Hilo to Waimea as it does during high season.