I’m in Oahu to speak at the NextLevel conference, my second Hawai’ian island trip in all (I visited the Big Island in 2001). When one lands in Honolulu, the first place you go to is your hotel, usually in Waikiki. While it’s certainly beautiful with scenic island decor, you feel enveloped by tourism and civilization… The high rises remind you that this is Hawaii’s most populated island, and the 11th largest metro area in the United States.
But only a half hour drive in any direction, and you find yourself surrounded by gorgeous natural beauty. It’s a jaw dropping stark reminder that our cement and steel worlds are built at the expense of such beauty.
Like all lands, Oahu and the other Hawai’ian islands suffer from environmental damage (see Environment Hawai’i). While Hawai’i has come along way, new issues like plastic bottle ridden beaches continue to threaten the islands. Mass tourism also endangers the ecological wonders.
Being here reminds me of why I blog here every week. Why I continue to be active for the environment. We have so much to fight for, so much to preserve. If only we would all take a little more responsibility, and take little steps every day to positively impact our environment. But until mass conscious approaches to the environment occur throughout our society, I’ll continue my efforts.
Full Oahu photo set is here.
Geoff Livingston is a regular contributor to the Live Earth blog.