The Sustainable Dream

The Sustainable Dream

We are an island thousands of miles from anywhere with limited land and resources. Almost all of the things we rely on come from afar—and that includes building materials, for home and commercial purposes.

Building Maui

Building Maui

Is Maui destined to rely on imports to build its homes or do local materials stand a chance?
Up a steep driveway in Kīpahulu, past fruit trees and dense jungle, outcroppings of bamboo begin to appear, stitched into the mountainside. Dusky black stalks and tea-green shoots adorn the landscape at Whispering Winds, a 230-acre farm cooperative where Rich von Wellsheim has been growing bamboo for nearly two decades.