We Are Not Sustainable

Posted on May 29, 2010

We are not a sustainable company. Every canoe that we build results in nearly half a dumpster of waste and 320 pounds of CO2 emissions. That's before we take into account the energy intensive process inherent to the manufacture and shipping of our raw materials. We at Kamanu are painfully aware that our canoes are harmful to the environment. Yet we keep building them. Everyday we build a complete canoe. Raw goods come in the door and canoes go out the door. The process never ends.

Before we began we had visions of donating 10% of our profits to environmentally conscious non-profits. We thought that we'd be able to figure out ways to re-use most of our waste. We believed that our shop would be covered in solar panels. That we would be a bastion of sustainable business practices in Hawai'i. All of that changed when we realized the realities of manufacturing. When you build something by hand, you're dealing with an almost non-existant margin. After every employee is paid, after all our materials and overhead are accounted for, and once we've given the IRS their money, less than one cent off every dollar is left. That portion of a cent has to be saved for shop improvements, for rainy days, and for the salaries of the two managing partners of the company. Unfortunately, it doesn't leave much room for environmental initiatives.

However, limited as we are, we have recently made new strides in a few areas:

1) 100% of the electricity used in the manufacture of our canoes comes from either wind or solar. We purchase Renewable Energy Certificates which are a complex market based solution to ensure that our electricity is coming from renewable sources.

2) We have just begun an initiative where we are planting a native tree for every canoe that we build. As of today, we have more than 50 Koa trees in the ground, and are planting them at a rate of five per week. Not only is the Koa tree of vital cultural importance to outrigger canoeing, but each tree will ultimately absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

At the end of the day, we feel that our contribution to the world is what we build. Every canoe is a vehicle to bring an individual closer to the natural world. It's a pathway for a healthier lifestyle and it's a release from our daily lives. Regardless, we're still going to spend the rest of our lives striving for the dream of sustainability: the idea that it's possible to build a canoe that's net impact is positive. Meaning it was built from renewable materials, using renewable energy, and that one day it will finish its life cycle either as a new canoe or by being returned to the Earth. It's how the canoes that populated the pacific were built, and it's how we hope to one day build our's. Until that day, we will remain accountable for the damage that we do.