At its core, the fledgling nonprofit Kanu Hawaii is about personal accountability. It asks individuals from Hawaii, as well as from the rest of the world, to make changes in their lives that will benefit the Islands, its environment and people, and the world as a whole. The nonprofit runs a Web site on which people may sign up and make commitments on how they are going to revive the aloha spirit and make a difference.
But Kanu Hawaii also sees the bigger picture. It may operate on the belief that one good deed goes a long way, but also realizes that 10 good deeds collectively go even further, and 100 good deeds can have a major effect, perhaps even globally.
"We made two big discoveries," says Andrew Aoki, one of three staff members of the nonprofit. "The first is that if you add up everybody's actions it can make quite an impact. Individually it may seem small, but add them all together and it becomes significant. If 400 people decide to take shorter showers, we can save enough drinking water for 2,000 people." (More on the second discovery later.)
Kanu Hawaii also estimates that during the course of a year the collective efforts of its members will:
Since launching its Web site in October, about 3,000 people from 34 different countries have joined the Kanu movement and made pledges of change. Kanu Hawaii hopes to have at least 10,000 members by the end of the year.
The more people sign up, the more obvious it becomes that they share common concerns.
"A lot of people in Hawaii," says Aoki, "want similar things — a clean and safe environment, good education, safety, an economy that's resilient and more self-sufficient. What we can do besides vote and pay taxes is to become more engaged in a positive way to be part of the solution.
"A vast majority of people feel disconnected, even disenfranchised, from the society that we supposedly run," continues Aoki.
Kanu Hawaii re-engages them by first asking what they love most about Hawaii, and what concerns them about its future.
The follow-up question: What are you willing to do, or even sacrifice, to preserve that aspect of Hawaii that you love for future generations to experience?
Last year, 40 young people got together and asked themselves the same questions. Each had been influenced by Hawaii's unique culture and way of life, and they all expressed concern that the Island values that shaped them as people were slowly disappearing.
They each defined their kuleana — or the responsibilities and obligations that come with the privileges of living in Hawaii — and then made commitments. Thus was born Kanu Hawaii.
Among the most popular commitments are living aloha, recycling as much as possible, using reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water, voting and encouraging at least one other who did not vote in the last election, and supporting businesses that treat well its workers, community and environment.
Kanu members with similar goals can also form groups within the Web site and work toward those goals together.
"I love what Kanu represents," says photographer Geralyn Camarillo, 40. "It gives us a forum to make public commitments to things we truly elieve in and how we operate on a daily basis.
"Every effort we make counts in the bigger scheme," she continues. "There's the story of the little boy who finds a starfish in the sand and throws it back. It matters that the starfish is back in the ocean. Every little effort, no matter how small, creates a domino effect. Think if everybody took responsibility, you know how wonderful this world would be?"
Camarillo joined Kanu in May, and her list of commitments continue to expand. She has pledged to be a good role model for children, grow some of her own food, compost food, walk more and drive less, and spread the "attitude of gratitude."
Commitments, however, do not all have to be complicated or time-consuming. Some members have pledged to bring back the Island tradition of rolling down their car windows and flashing the shaka to motorists who allow them to merge.
One of Camarillo's most recent commitment was to return shopping carts to their proper place.
"Why is there always that one shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot, waiting to become a torpedo for other cars?" she says.
Whether big or small, the commitments can be achieved through perseverance and stick-to-itiveness, according to Aoki.
"Our second big discovery is that change is hard," he says. "We've gotten used to pointing fingers at others and saying they haven't done enough. We need to point the finger inward and do some things that are not as easy as we think. It starts with the mindset that you have to make personal changes."
Among Kona Purdy's commitments is conserving water, volunteering at a nonprofit and supporting local musicians by buying their music and not file-sharing their songs. He also swore off swearing, which he's finding is the most difficult task to accomplish.
"I can do it for a few days, but then I have a really bad day and then ... sorry," says the 23-year-old Boys and Girls Club youth development director. "It's really easy to make the commitment, but it's very challenging to ask yourself to break a lot of old habits."
It helps, he says, that Kanu Hawaii posts his pledges for everyone to see and gives him no choice but to fulfill them. In fact, many members thought about making their commitments before Kanu Hawaii came along, but the nonprofit provided that one last push.
"You can't make a difference without making a commitment," Purdy says. "It's definitely worth it."
Actor Aito Simpson Steele, 30, a member since January, says Kanu Hawaii has already made a mark.
"Even if it doesn't get any bigger than with the people it has now, it will still make an impact," he says. "It's already made an impact in my life. There's talking the talk, and then there's walking the walk. Even if we're walking really slow, we're still walking."
Kanu Hawaii may have been designed for the people of Hawaii, but its founders believe it can have worldwide influence.
"We're trying to become a model of island living in an increasingly island world," says Aoki. "Hawaii is unique in that its diverse people are crammed in a finite land. Because of technology, the world has become one big island. We have to get along and embrace our diversity, and share what we know with each other. There's some value in that."
To join the Kanu social movement, log on to www.kanuhawaii.org.
