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Testimony on Resolution 302-12 October 2nd 2012 <br /> SUSTAINABLE LIVING RESEARCH SITES <br /> Graham Ellis <br /> Chair,Hawaii Sustainable Community Alliance <br /> www.hawaiisustainablecommunity.org <br /> I'm here today as the Board Chairman representing the Hawaii Sustainable <br /> Community Alliance. Our non profit organization has existed for two years <br /> and currently has over 460 members. We have been researching sustainable <br /> living practices island wide, nation wide and world wide. Our current focus <br /> is on promoting legislation that supports sustainable living for the benefit of <br /> the greater community. We are associated with similar organizations with <br /> identical goals on Maui, Oahu, and Kauai as well as in several other Counties <br /> across the USA. We were the authors of Resolution 167-11, titled Sustainable <br /> Habitat which passed this Council 7-0 and called upon the Dept of Public <br /> Works to "establish a Sustainable Habitat Building Code". We thank you for <br /> that support because it is now widely viewed by many of our elected and <br /> soon to be elected officials that an alternative building code promoting more <br /> sustainable and affordable homes is a high priority for our Govt. <br /> If 1 were to ask who in this room supports the Big Island having a more <br /> sustainable future 1 am sure that everyone would raise their hands. If I were <br /> to ask what activities are the best to promote a sustainable future for the Big <br /> Island 1 am also sure that there would be a host of suggestions and many <br /> differences of opinion. <br /> If 1 asked who is in favor of just doing what we have always done and sticking <br /> to business as usual I will assume that we all agree that business as usual is <br /> not an option. But what are the sustainable options. As a famous politician <br /> kind of said once ' there are things we know, there are things we don't know <br /> and there are things that we don't know we don't know." <br /> I am here today to ask you to be supportive of an initiative that will allow for <br /> residents of the Big Island to legally research sustainable living practices that <br /> are presently unknown, or known and not publicized or perhaps they are <br /> things we didn't know we knew because they are traditional but seldom <br /> practiced ways of living. Research and the education that comes with it has <br /> unknown potentials for helping us maintain our quality of life in a more <br /> sustainable manner. <br /> I myself am an example of a pioneer in sustainable living. For over 25 years 1 <br /> have helped reclaim and redevelop a former Hawaiian homestead. <br /> Approximately 75%-85% of the food I eat comes from the Big Island,much of <br /> it from the land 1 live on. My home is powered 100% by solar energy, my <br /> water comes from a catchment system and is heated by solar. My 2,000 sq ft <br /> Comm. No. t.f Z ' <br /> Ref.To: lA) P � <br /> Ref. Date t T 2 20 <br />