Aloha Butterflies! The event date is fast approaching! 10 years ago we held the first event with only a handful of friends wanting to have a fun, non-competitive event. We did pick up trash that year, but that was the extent of our ecological efforts. As each year comes and goes, and we see our island as a reflection of the condition of the world, our eyes continue to open as to how each one of us effects the whole and how we need to be more and more responsible ecologically for our actions and decisions. We are no longer just the kids and youth anymore, and it is up to us to do all we can for the best ecological and emotional interest of our island( and the world), in order to keep its beauty and balance for generations to come. I pray that the Butterfly Effect will be a reflection of our inner dream to make our island and the world a better place to live. A home filled with ALOHA. I know we are all feeling the same and have a lot of concern. As women we want to nurture this island home with our love and gratitude. With each yearly BE event, we began to incorporate “give backs” to help people and causes that benefit the island. From trash pick-up, to planting native trees and helping with charitable foundations. Each year we strive to do and be better….more informed and informative, more ecologically friendly and more compassionate. This year I want to stress more than ever before, the importance of being as “plastic-free” as we can be. That means bringing your own drinking bottles instead of buying or providing water in the plastic bottles. (We will have water stations that your can refill them.) Plastic has practically taken over our life! Even when we pick up plastic we use plastic, so let’s be the change this year and bring paper bags for trash or those big recycled coffee bags! So…anything we can do to help reduce our use of plastic is great. Please share any good ideas on this! We are excited to be bringing paper straws to the event, thanks to Aardvark Straws…. and hopefully a lot of coconuts! If you have coco-gathering,tree-climbing friends who would be interested in donating and opening coconuts to all the participants at the event site ..that would be superdeliciousness….let us know. Thanks

ALSO….. As many of you know who have also grown up on Maui…the very exciting news that HC&S will be shutting down …yeah! no more cane burning and poisoning our island with black plastic and pesticide spraying!…… BUT…. what is to become of all that land?! We must do whatever we can to prevent developers from turning Maui into another Oahu. The opportunity is NOW… to become involved with the MAUI COMMUNITY ORGANIC FARMLAND INITIATIVE . It is a grass-roots community effort. Please go to their website: www.MauiCommnityOrganicFarmland.org to learn more about the issues at stake and the opportunity to convert these large farmland holdings into community organic farmlands. We need to get 9,202 valid voter signatures in a short amount of time to get it on the voting ballot. It is going to take a lot of work and it is a multi-stepped process, but obtaining the signatures is the first step. I will have a table set up on the morning of the event for collecting signatures. The more support we can all give, the faster we can return the island back to its healthy, happy state. Maybe someday we will help to return the island back to the Hawaiians.

If you are interested in knowing more and would like to help gather signatures, please attend the meeting at the Temple of Peace in Haiku tonight, March 30th at 7pm.