While travelling in Hawaii I discovered some things about that state that are very different from the rest of the US. For example, the distances on road signs are presented in both English and Metric measurements. Which means you should always check with you adventure-tour operator to make sure they didn’t confuse the two when determining the correct length for the bungie cord.
Another big difference is that many of the plants on the islands are just like the tourists – they’re an invasive species.
But the most interesting difference concerns waste management. Most of the islands are formed of solid volcanic rock. It’s difficult to excavate a deep pit in such rocky material. So it’s nearly impossible to dig a landfill.
But the Hawaiians have devised an ingenuous solution (at least on The Big Island). They compact their trash into big dense cubes. Then, one day each month they close Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to tourists. And then a pack of helicopters carry the trash-cubes over the Kilauea volcano and drop them into the magma (which is roughly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
Totally brilliant. I love learning about how other people do stuff.
Wow…this is great, except for the possibility of a volcano exploding in your neighborhood. Of course, I have nuclear towers in my horizon, so at least this is a ‘natural’ solution. Love it!
That is pretty cool. Maybe we can all borrow a volcano for our trash issues.
The modern day offering to the volcano gods. ‘Cause an island only has so many virgins…