Big Island unveils sustainability web site for visitors

In Hawai'i, the Big Island Visitors Bureau has created a sustainability web site that details sustainability efforts and gives tips for visiting the island in a responsible manner, including how to cut energy use, eat local foods and recycle.

The site also suggests green activities such as food, agriculture, marine recreation, Hawaiian culture and festivals.

Moreover, the new web site offers information about sustainable hotels, resorts, restaurants and tours. Links provide ways to offset visitors' carbon emissions.

"The model for sustainability on the Island of Hawai‘i and other Hawaiian Islands was already in place and practiced here for more than a millennium, well into modern times, by the first inhabitants, the native Hawaiians," according to a statement from the bureau. "They were masters at using the islands’ land and sea resources to support populations as large as that of today. The agriculture and aquaculture methods of Hawaiians are widely regarded as the most efficient in the Pacific. The Hawaiians understood and were keenly attuned to their environment and how to keep in balance with it."

The incentive to promote green travel is strong. According to the bureau, the Hawaiian Islands contain the highest number of threatened plant and animal species of any place on the planet.