Sierra Club Kauai Hiking Outing 2012
Hiking the Garden Island is an outing sponsored by the Sierra Club on May 26 thru June 2, 2012. The trip will explore the diversity of Kauai through a variety of Read more
Kauai Beaches and Rescue Tubes
Rescue Tubes have been installed on Kauai’s beaches to help distressed swimmers in areas where lifeguards are not stationed, or at times when they are not on duty. Because of strong rip currents around the island, more people on Kauai have died in the ocean than on the highway.
Since the Rescue Tube Foundation installed the first tube more than two years ago, 37 Rescue Tube saves have been reported. Rescue Tubes stand guard 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
In 2009, 67 tubes were installed, and 7 lives were saved.
In 2010, 107 tubes were installed, and 15 lives were saved.
In 2011, 162 tubes were installed, and 15 lives were saved.
Rescue Tubes are there for all of us. When you see a Rescue Tube, take a closer look and become familiar with it. Explain them to your family, friends, and visitors. Visit Rescue Tube Foundation for more information. Enjoy our beautiful beaches and stay safe on Kauai. Please remember: When in doubt, don’t go out. Check our Kauai Surf Report.
Kauai Rainbows
One of nature’s masterpieces is the rainbow, and the tropical climate and misty rain showers on Kauai provide many opportunities to see a rainbow painting the sky with colors. A rainbow is a dispersion of visible light which is composed of a spectrum of wavelengths, each associated with a distinct color. To see a rainbow, you have to have your back to the sun, which also has to be less than 42 degrees above the horizon with suspended droplets of water or a light mist. This only occurs in the morning and evening (the most common times to see rainbows). Each individual droplet of water acts as a tiny prism that both disperses the light and reflects it back to your eye. As you look into the sky, wavelengths of light associated with a specific color arrive at your eye from the collection of droplets. The net effect of the vast array of droplets is that a circular arc of ROYGBIV is seen across the sky.
Each water droplet in a rainbow disperses a full spectrum of colors, but from where you’re standing you will see only one of the colors from any particular drop. You will see the color that refracts at just the right angle to reach the place where you are standing. For example, you’ll see red when the angle between a beam of sunlight and the dispersed light (at the water droplet) is 42 degrees, and violet when the angle is 40 degrees.
The top of a rainbow is red and the innermost arc is violet – this is because a water droplet bends violet the most and red the least. If violet light from a single water droplet enters your eye, the red light from the same droplet will fall below your eye, and so you will not see it. To see red light you have to look at a raindrop higher in the rainbow.
A double rainbow is actually two completely different rainbows, one directly over the other, and are caused by a double reflection within the raindrops. The secondary rainbow is larger than the primary rainbow, and has its colors reversed, with violet on the top, and red on the bottom. In ancient Hawai‘i a rainbow (anuenue) symbolized the presence of a god or a chief.
Targeting Invasive Plants in Hawaii
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i is using improved imaging and new software technologies to map, locate, and eliminate invasive plant species before they have a chance to threaten Hawaii’s delicate watersheds. The extremely high resolution images are made possible with better cameras that allow more area to be filmed from higher altitudes. New image resolution of up to one centimeter per pixel allows analysts to identify and map much of the younger small-leafed plants.
The work has already started with mapping for the removal of the Australian tree fern, a highly invasive plant that grows an average 30-feet high and 15-feet wide and displaces a lot of native trees. The fern began appearing in Hawai‘i in the 1970s and began spreading slowly over a 15-year period. During the last decade, the plant presented the potential to alter the Alaka‘i watershed and dominate the canopy of vegetation in the watershed.
The team will conduct aerial mapping to locate more ferns and eliminate them before they spread throughout the watershed. They can pick out plants in such detail that they can identify which are the bad ones to eliminate. After another year of mapping, they will remove the plants with low-volume herbicides on more than 5,000 Australian tree fern plants in Kauai’s forests. The herbicide technology was created by loading a compressed air gun with herbicide-filled paintballs that can target specific plants without overspraying and damaging surrounding vegetation.
The team will remap in three years to look for grow-back. In the meantime, the technology will expand to search out a long list of other small-leafed weed species spanning 20,000 acres of forest land across the state Hawai‘i, including the miconia and the strawberry guava. They are developing critical technologies with the potential to revolutionize forest conservation in Hawai‘i. These forests supply the fresh, clean water on which Hawai‘i’s people depend and are biological treasures vital to preserving the islands’ natural and cultural heritage.
Hawaii Healing Garden Festival 2011
The Kauai Healing Garden Festival, on Saturday October 15, includes a full day of entertainment and presentations, plus Kauai’s eco-fashion show, a health & sustainability expo, healthy food vendors, lei & local food contest, and activities for adults and keiki too. Residents and visitors alike can look forward to celebrating the cornucopia of healthy & green living of the Garden Isle, at the 7th Annual – Kauai Healing Garden Festival. This is the third year at Kilohana Plantation Luau Pavilion, the signature venue for the Kaua’i festival.
Hawaii Health Expo 10:00-6:00
Presentations 10:00-5:00
Keynote Speaker 12:00-1:00
Poi Pounding 10:00-4:00
Tahitian Drumming 12:00-4:00
Cooking Demos 11:00-3:00
Eco Fashion Show 1:00-2:00
Music Mele 4:30-6:00
Poisons in Paradise
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Lorrin Pang, MD, MPH, presents a 2 part lecture on GMOs & Pesticides in Food & Farming and Radiation, Depleted Uranium & Chemtrails in Hawaii.
Smile for Life: How to Effectively Create Oral Health for Life
Will and Susan Revak, creators of OraWellness toxin free oral health products. What healing the mouth is really all about: Strengthening the immune system, 3 principles to create optimal oral health, How many oral hygiene products may be hazardous to one’s health, How dietary choices impact our oral health, the works of Dr. Weston A Price and Drs. Edward and May Mellanby, Foods required to rebuild/strengthen the teeth, and Putting it all together: How OraWellness creates optimal oral health using both germ theory and cellular theory.
Can Foods Starve Cancer
David Bruce Leonard, Author of Medicine at Your Feet: Healing Plants of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and Wild Wisdom. presents on cutting edge research suggest that certain foods may inhibit cancer growth.
Green Building Ethics
Orion Stanbro – The goal of beautiful, contemporary designs can be obtained ethically and economically through simple methods which are available to all Hawaii residents. Based on materials that are reclaimed, new buildings and remodels are based on 100% superior old growth woods which were otherwise destined for the garbage. The idea of permaculture building meshes with the resources of the surrounding urban areas to create truly unique and high quality low cost structures.
Finding Balance in the Modern Age with Ayurveda
Sara Kruse, Ayurvedic Practitioner, LMP, Doula – Ayurveda is the ancient medical science from India that teaches us how to thrive in all areas of our health and lives. In this talk, we will focus on understanding the 3-doshas (vata, pitta and kapha) and their expressions throughout the body. You will gain insight into your unique Ayurvedic constitution, and how Ayurvedic wisdom views food, colors, aromas, sound, practices and bodywork.
Lomi Lomi Hawaiian Therapies
Kahu Penny Prior LMT – discusses and demonstrates the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of Hawaiian lomilomi massage.
Choose the Right Bodywork for Health & Longevity
Damien McKinley LMT – explains the many types of Bodywork, and how to choose those that compliment your health!
Hawaiian La’au Lomi Stick Massage
Hands on Demonstration with Lomi Lomi practitioner Artemio from Molokai
Foods for Prevention and Healing of Cancer
David Bruce Leonard, Author of Medicine at Your Feet: Healing Plants of the Hawaian Kingdom, and Wild Wisdom.
Health Foods for Healthy Heart
Dr. Michael Ancharski ND – Learn new advancements in prevention and reversal of Heart disease – the #1 health issue in America. Dr. Ancharski has served as Professor and Clinical Instructor at two Naturopathic medical schools and co-founded Eclectic Institute, a foremost research center for new botanical and nutritional medicines.
Hawaii International Film Festival 2011
The Hawaii International Film Festival, October 13 to 23, features film screenings of productions from the Asia-Pacific region including films produced in Hawaii. Held at Regal Dole Cannery Theaters, Hawaii Theatre Center, Waikiki Beach, Oahu, you can enjoy screening films not available through any other venue in Hawaii. HIFF showcases over 250 films including many U.S. and world premieres.
The Hawaii International Film Festival was established in 1981 dedicated to the advancement of cultural exchange and media awareness in the Pacific Rim. HIFF is a premier international film event that has won the praise of filmmakers, scholars, educators, programmers, and film industry leaders across the globe. The first HIFF screened seven films from six countries to an audience of 5,000. Today, HIFF is the a premiere cinematic event in the Pacific drawing an audience of 80,000 or more from around the state, the nation and throughout the world.
HIFF is unique in discovering features, documentaries and shorts from Asia made by Asians, films about the Pacific made by Pacific Islanders, and films made by Hawai`i filmmakers that present Hawai`i in a culturally accurate way. HIFF also conducts seminars, workshops, special award presentation receptions with top Asian, Pacific and North American filmmakers participating.
