COUNTRY FEELING SURFBOARDS

Now there's a "youtube" for surfers. Check it out at swelltube.com.

Winter storms offer a friendly reminder that water flows from the mountains to the sea. Let's not sully it along the way. Clark Little shows us that brown water makes barrels, too, but wouldn't you prefer to get tubed in blue?

Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, to discuss what direction the U.S. should pursue in the critical yet often-overlooked question of food policy. Watch the clip here.

Thanks for all the uplifting videos, Matt.

Foam producer Pacific Allied Products Ltd. is recycling its own scrap, using a densifier that shrinks the material into 1 percent of its original volume. Read Gordon Pang's story in the Honolulu Advertiser. The company is now accepting foam for recycling at its Campbell Industrial Park plant at 91-118 Kaomi Loop. They'll take foam of any size or amount, as long as it's clean—roofing materials, surfboards, food containers, ice coolers, and so on. For more information, call 682-2038.

A versatile island and Hawaiian music playlist can be found here.

"...it is as though we are standing inside a star."

Neil Shea reports on Mexico's Cave of Crystals in the November issue of National Geographic Magazine.

Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.

                           —President-elect Barack Obama

President Obama's transition team has set up a functional website with a regularly updated blog where you can learn about his agenda and contribute your input. What is the change you want to see? Send your vision here.

Keetsa Mattress makes eco-friendly mattresses and bedding products, from wood bed frames to bamboo sheets. Check their cool blog!

Plant a tree!

Volunteers will remove mangrove and limu and help rebuild the 350-year old stone wall at Waikalua Loko Fishpond in Kane‘ohe Bay on Saturday morning from 8 to noon. If you want to help, call Ka‘ohua Lucas at 843-1217 or email kaohua@hawaii.rr.com. The fishpond is located at the end of Kulauli Street makai of Pu‘ohala Elementary School.

A new program offering educators and conservation leaders an opportunity to more intimately understand Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument’s wildlife and cultural resources is being offered on O‘ahu and Midway Atoll in 2009. Nominations to attend the workshop are being sought from now through January 2, 2009.

This program is designed to not only create a greater understanding of the Monument but also to inspire community environmental stewardship at a grassroots local level.  The program, called Papahanaumokuakea ‘Ahahu‘i Alaka‘i (PAA), will be offered from June 13 through 23, 2009.

The first three days will be spent on O‘ahu preparing, learning natural and cultural history, and training with available technology. The remaining seven days will be spent on remote Midway Atoll, located 1,250 miles northwest of Honolulu within the Monument.

PAA is accepting nominations from educators in formal and informal settings, community leaders, and people in positions that support community change and stewardship. Up to 12 people will be chosen to participate. Both American and international nominees are welcome. Participants will be chosen based on their written nominations, their letters of support, and their capacity to fulfill the program’s need for a strong variety of skills and abilities. In addition, potential participants are asked to submit a draft plan for an environmental stewardship project that will be modified throughout the workshop and implemented in their community upon their return home. 

More information about the workshop is available at http://papahanaumokuakea.gov; nomination forms are available by contacting Ann Bell at fw1pie_paa@fws.gov or (808) 792-9532. Nominations must be postmarked by January 2, 2009.  Questions about the PA‘A workshop can be addressed by contacting Linda Schubert at (808) 933-8181.

The 2008-2009 Eddie Aikau contest invitees have been posted here. The waiting period is Dec. 1 through Feb. 28... the Bay calls the day!

Home improvement can be green! From recycled plastic lumber to recycled glass tile, BuildingGreen.com has a comprehensive and categorized list of eco-friendlier materials.