Office of Climate Change

Today we visited the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency in downtown Honolulu! This was one of my favorite days due to the topics we discussed and the information that I retained!
We learned about the different call to actions Oahu has regarding sustainability. These include Green City Operations, reduction of climate emissions, coordination with federal and state agencies, promoting resilient communities, ensuring sustainable city plans and policies, and facilitating climate change commissions.
One of the biggest things I took away from this was how much warming is happening on Oahu due to pollution: 110 million tons of warming pollution goes into the atmosphere every 24 hours!!
We then discussed the different ways in which they plan to implement change. These things can include..
- Climate Action Plan
- New Codes and Design Guidelines
-Transparency and Disclosure
- Climate Adaption Strategy
- Updated Shoreline Management
- Beach Preservation
- Urban Heat Mitigation
- Flooding and Stormwater Solutions
They also gave us some ways in which we can practice sustainability along with the people that live on the island such as making a disaster plan, reducing waste and plastic use, buying local, growing foods, take public transportation/walk/bike, plant and/or care for trees, volunteer, and spread knowledge!
It’s crazy to think that such small ways like these listed will preserve and make sustainable the place in which we live. These small acts can have such a big impact and I’m super thankful I am better informed on what I can do not just in Hawaii but on the mainland in order to become more sustainable!Read more