Life is different in Hawaii in many ways. The obvious ones include the sunshine, ocean, flowers, rainbows, and tropical bugs. The eco-life was more of a surprise to me. I wasn't prepared to become someone who keeps the lights off when they aren't REALLY needed, or cringe when I see someone throw away an item that is perfectly good for recycling or re-use (large glass peanut butter jars with the screw top ROCK for re-use - they are perfect for so many things!)
And did I mention the tropical bugs? This requires that flour, sugar, cereal, and basically anything that is open be stored in air-tight, Fort Knox packaging, or simply kept in the refrigerator. My fridge is packed with rice and mashed potatoes which makes it is a bit more difficult to access one of my coconut creamers. As I live on an island with limited land space, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and everything takes time to ship here, and I can't drink my coffee without creamer, it can be a fight to the death for certain items in the grocery store. So when I see my favorite flavor available in the dairy case, I stock up. I have purchased 6 large Coffee-Mate Coconut Creamers at one time - I always keep a spare for back up (and by spare I mean 4) after all, I have to keep the library stocked too.
I will post a separate story on the outrageous food prices, but luckily Target grocery offers the best price on my creamer (when in stock) and many other items I purchase regularly - LOVE TARGET! And by the way, I didn't have a Target store close by in Northern Michigan, and as a bonus this one has a Pizza Hut and Starbucks inside :)
Shopping at Target brings me to my next eco-point: plastic bags are scarce, nowhere to be found actually because they are banned to promote the zero-waste project on the Big Island. You get in the habit of grabbing a reusable shopping bag from the trunk and carrying it with you when entering stores or farmer's markets. If you're lucky, the store will provide a free paper bag, but mostly they just sell bags to you because how else are you going to transport all your items (a good deal for the store!) Murphy's law still applies when you bring one bag for a quick trip to the store only to purchase 3 bags worth of items! Has this practice helped? I don't know, but I hope so. I am much more aware of my surroundings and the impact I have on them now. In Michigan, life was beautiful and abundant. In Hawaii, life is eco-friendly.
Until next time, keep looking on the Bright Side :)
Michelle
