OUR PROPOSAL:
Summary of Proposal:
Our group has come to the conclusion that our proposal would be about creating a new policy for Kamehameha lands. The biggest challenge that we notice is financial of course, but we have also done our research on slightly cheap energy conserving ideas. Of course, energy isnʻt the only thing that needs to be conserved. Based on the business on Kamehameha land, different sustainability policies would apply. We propose drafting a new contract that would list different areas of sustainability (business would decide what the biggest contributor is: water, energy, food waste, etc). In the contract would be at least two ways that the business should be using sustainable energy, water conservation, and/or prevention of food waste. The ideas would be one expensive and effective idea as well as an inexpensive, simple idea. If a local business is on Kamehameha land, the business will have the same contract but will be allowed to offer their own idea of sustainability based on the income of the business. Any sustainable offer from a local business would need to be approved before going into operation. Big name businesses will also have this option but the prices will need to be slightly higher if they have the capability in order to a more sustainable business. An example portion of our proposed contract would be as follows:
“Proposals for energy conservation
•If the business is making over ______ as their yearly income, it is suggested that they add in solar panels on building to conserve artificial energy. The solar panels can come from any business of choice but following businesses are recommended: Haleakala Solar, Sun King Hawaii, Mercury Solar, etc. Any other means of suggestion is allowed, but must be approved by _____. If a business chooses to suggest their own plan and the proposal has not been approved, then the land cannot be leased to them until full completion of approval process.
•If the business is making under ______ as their yearly income, it is suggested that they use different lights in their building that conserves energy but still uses more artificial energy. Any other means of suggestion is allowed, but must be approved by _____. If a business chooses to suggest their own plan and the proposal has not been approved, then the land cannot be leased to them until full completion of approval process.”
The same would follow for water conservation as well as means for prevention of food waste. This contract would explain basic details about price for overall income and the income will be based off of the yearly income from the previous year.
Negotiations:
If the previous year has a higher income and cannot be remade, negotiations can be made under this circumstance. All negotiations must be ran by _______ with a full look at profits made from the past 3 previous years. If the negotiation is allowed, then the contract will be reissued explaining what can be done instead of original option.
Research Plans:
We are planning to research what businesses are on Kamehameha grounds. Once we can label the businesses by name, they will be put into different categories describing their main product and sustainability (if any). Once all of this research is accounted for, we will be talking to people that use sustainable sources like solar panels or work with food waste and water conservation in order to get an understanding of different products that could help with basic sustainability in order to provide more options for our contract that is financially attainable, efficient, as well as environmentally friendly.
Conclusion:
As we take steps forward in expanding our ideas with the use of Kamehameha lands it is most important that we are informed of all parts of the island that are apart of our lands and then assess the way that all of it is being used. Punalu’u farms and ahupuaʻa is a great example of our lands being put to good use and being used sustainably. If we can take the knowledge that was shared with us from there and expand it to other parts of our lands I think it could turn into something that will benefit Kamehameha as a whole. By using the experience that we had there, we believe we could draft a complete contract that would show how using sustainable energy would benefit Kamehameha as well as the businesses that are using Kamehameha lands.
Our idea is rough and still in the works, but if we are able to find success in our plans we will make a difference. The idea is that we don’t know how our lands our being used and what kinds of things are being done. We are often told that Kamehameha owns a lot of lands on the island, but have no knowledge of where that is or how we are using it. The first step would be to get that information so that we are able to better understand what is being done. Once we have the knowledge of what the land is being used for, we can draft our contract to fully extend to all businesses that are local or nationwide. Everything is connected and we feel that the influence of the way that we use other parts of our lands comes back to the school as well. Many of the other groups are focusing their ideas strictly on problems that we see on campus. By working on the lands outside of just Kamehameha Schools, we are looking at bigger pictures that would also help the school in a positive way. If we can pull the idea together to eventually be able to use every other part of Kamehameha lands to make our campus more sustainable, it will set up a better future for the campus. The effort to try to find a way to sustain ourselves all around will have the greatest impact for Kamehameha as a whole.