 Good afternoon and welcome to Think Tech Hawaii. My name is James McKay. I'm the co-host for Hawaii Food and Farmers Program Again, Justin and Matt have not come back. So I'm here again to sit in and host and today We're having a bit more of an uplifting chat last week. We've gotten so much grumpy email about the Hoa Peerley or Honolulu As we should be calling it we learned from Mark last week that we decided we focus on a bit more positive this week Which is a growing phenomena around the world and it's a difficult world phenomena, but Easy is to grow stuff especially in Hawaii So it's a very cool concept that has its roots pun intended into permaculture But it's expanded through a non-profit partner the surfwriter foundation. So joining me today in the studio We have Jennifer Rodwell who's an educator at a couple of public private public public public Charter yeah, I've never understood the difference between all them but in Hawaii and Honolulu and also with permavits Hawaii and On her left is Raphael Benstrom who is the Oahu chapter coordinator for the separate foundation So welcome guys. Thank you for coming down to the studio today and today We're discussing something called surf blitz and surf blitz is a program that was started nearly a couple years ago with Sort of the roots had started in the permaculture foundation. So, you know, everyone's like perma blitz Surf blitz. What is that? And obviously you have different answers to it because they actually are serving different needs So we'll start with Raphael. So the surf blitz that's coming up. We have one on Saturday this weekend What is the surf blitz? How does it start? Why do people care? Sure? Thanks for having us James The surf blitz is a program that originated For our end in surf riders ends with a program that we have called ocean friendly gardens And that's a national program for the surf fighter foundation that is working to stop stormwater runoff at its source So it's a pollution control mechanism and what we do is we build gardens and people's backyards and Try and teach them the mechanisms by which you can trap and reuse water rather than having a runoff and Pollute our oceans actually here in Hawaii So what ends up happening stormwater is actually one of the biggest pollutants to the ocean and you can imagine that when it rains We've paved over so much of our landscape that it accumulates pollutants whether that's gas or fertilizers or pesticides or Animal waste whatever it is all of those things go directly into our storm drains when it rains and our storm drains Don't have any filtration. They don't have any way of stopping that before it enters the ocean So if we can slow that flow of water and build gardens and yards where people can retain the water on site That's the idea of an ocean friendly garden. All right, cool And that concept started in California right with the one of the surf rider chapters in California. I believe so It might have been 2013 nearly even I think that we first saw the San Diego chapter look into that kind of concept And I think it's a really cool way of using what would actually be wastewater in your own property to harness that and grow Preferably food is kind of the ideal thing because this is the series on Food and farmers. So we're actually essentially turning the homeowner or renter into a garden or a farmer for their own Consumption or even if they get really good, I'll give it away, which would be a good segue to the perma blitz concept So we have a perma blitz. I think we understand now what a surf blitz is perma blitz gen What's what's that all about again? Thanks for having me It fits beautifully actually into what Ralph was talking about with regards to Using water because perma blitz was founded started in Australia and then founded here on on a wahoo by Matt Lynch And it's based on perma culture principles of which one of the main principles of permaculture is looking at things as a system How does everything connect with each other? So we want to use that water that's coming from the sky and somehow redirected into our gardens rather than going to the ocean So that's one piece of the perma culture aspect of perma blitz perma blitz is a reciprocal exchange network where people in the community can come together on one day and Help someone else in the community totally transform their their backyard into an edible landscape for example using permaculture principles and ethics and Once they've done three blitzes They can then have their own space blitzed and so through this network over time we can essentially be transforming all of a wahoo's gardens in this Grass roots kind of a manner in which everyone is getting together and helping each other out To transform their yards into edible landscapes and people producing their own food Reusing the water that's on their aina and preventing it from running into the ocean as a stormwater runoff We just need the edible grass though, right? You can't just have the Typical landscaping grass. Yeah, and that's a very different concept than what we talked about last week Which was with the housing communities going up there. There isn't a focus on food production In fact, it's kind of the opposite right and you you see it a lot in the newer bigger houses Popping up everywhere. They sort of concrete concreting everything rather than taking advantage of the space that might be used for food production So I think that's an interesting mix where that we the surfwriter of motivation slightly different But the net end result is that we have a lot more local healthy food and for me personally So I actually met Jen in our permaculture design course where we actually become certified to create some of these plans I don't know. I'm feeling a little rusty right now, but it's all experience, right? but um that to me personally was just a transformational experience in my Initiation to Hawaii living in Hawaii. I did that quite early on from moving here and for me It's still, you know some of my best friends are people that I've met through that organization and similarly through the surfwriter foundation I started cleaning beaches even before I was a certified permaculture design specialist So it's kind of to me It's great to see these two independent lifestyle partnerships that I work kind of had one foot in each camp come together You know way I would have never expected so it's kind of cool So I want to throw up a little image of one of the ones that we've done. I believe this was just a It's a surplus probably the say 10th one. There's been sort of 12 done now on Oahu We might get to the image but basically it's just a group of people that I think the biggest thing to me is that just the cool People you meet in these events just awesome people and it's not like you're just there to fulfill the mission and go You're you're actually going there to meet people that are cool. So this is Tia She's like one of the best plant experts. I've ever met and that's what she does. She's a masters plant student She's too busy to come on the show right now But you know she's there and there's a bunch of these people that are just really smart people that know how to grow a Bunch of stuff and this is always in the event We have the food to like thank the volunteers for coming down. So it's a potluck We try to avoid single use plastic and in the the surfwriter Foundation want to avoid single use plastics as much as possible that you know all the Containers you get reused so you work hard you learn a lot, but then you eat really well And I think that's and so as a result that's what it's kind of like a really healthy drug. You have people coming back It's just a great community. So is that kind of your experience Jenna and I get involved You're addicted more than anyone. I think I know and there's no counsel. I know that can get you off this So it's true. I would I have to admit I am addicted to your surf blitz and permablitz I just love getting my hands dirty I love working hard and seeing change happen in one day Such quick remarkable change can happen when I work in my own backyard of my own It takes me a year to get that work done and to see that happen in a day and people having so much fun Where they're doing it. There's always a lot of joking a lot of play With a lot of really good solid leadership. Yeah, so on the screen. That's happy to go on so this Actually, you might have been away for this one way. We did I'm there The plant head we got rough at the back. So that's the the logo of the the permablitz community or permaculture Hawaii Is their website? So we'll probably have that maybe hopefully a screen that Go go under the bottom at the end, but it'll be on the website later Or you can just Google permaculture Hawaii and you'll find it eventually. So that there's always One of these events going on at some point either going on or being planned And I think that's the key thing is These things even though when you come as a volunteer you kind of walk in and you just sort of go and Go in the flow and people tell you what to do, but it looks very chaotic It's kind of like that potluck show it looks like there is really no logic to it But when you get it all together on a plate it actually all comes together very nicely But it it's very structured organized chaos There's definitely some some some spontaneous spontaneity in the design, but they it's all carefully planned You know the plants are bored. There's a lot of background work That's happened on the team that Matt and Hunter have kind of grown over the years And so it's really cool to see this just keep growing and it's kind of a sick pun But it's definitely building year upon year and I think a big part of that we saw so Raphael was here with Hunter Nearly two years ago I believe to talk about the launch of this program project or concept with the surf blitz campaign to protect the oceans Under surf writers mission and I believe since then you've scaled up considerably So maybe if we could talk a bit about what happened in the past and where you where it's gone and where you see it going potentially Yeah, absolutely. I think that what Jen was alluding to as well as there's this really amazing group of knowledgeable practitioners of permaculture that we we came across with this ocean friendly Gardens principal and surf rider and it happened to be that we met Matt Lynch and saw this overlap in our two programs And as Jen said the the water retention programs and and building these food scapes matched perfectly So we thought it was a great idea to combine our volunteer workforces as well And over the years as you said we're we're approaching two years in this program and almost 12 blitzes the one coming up this weekend We'll be our fifth this year and it started out with Small amounts of funding through our surf rider Wahoo program And we've grown it over this last year to actually start receiving grant monies as well So through the white tourism authority and the white community foundation this last year We received a large large enough grant to fund this throughout the year and actually give back to some of our practitioners Be able to scale up on the amount of plants that we're putting in the ground The water attainment systems that we're using each time So it's been this amazing growth and not only just in in the actual funding for the mechanisms that were that were Implementing but also just in the amount of people that are getting involved from multiple circles of life So it's like we're now connecting in a whole group of surf riders into this permaculture community and vice versa and to have that Reciprocal volunteer network growing in that way. That's the idea of it as well Now it's spreading to people who may not have known about these concepts before yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I've definitely seen that in just the sheer volume of people But also materials like just you know when we started first ones I did was very bare bones and the homeowner had to buy all their own plants and that kind of stuff now You see, you know, there's truck pulls of plants and these things kind of sell out like a top rate of movie That is the email pops out and if you're not quick on the list, you just you get screened out And it's kind of like ridiculous for the small ones It's everyone's like applying in straight away and booking their spot and you're away to go So it is great to see and I think I think the key thing is there is obviously The funding is key that really having the ultimate success because that's really what we want to see is the best Possible end result rather than just kind of like a sort of so-so result I think that the transformation and the the feeling you get after participating in something like that is so rewarding just to see The before and after shots of what was there and what's left once you actually wrap stuff up It is amazing and it really is testament to the volunteers that step up So I think we have you know unlimited amount of backyards that we can keep doing this in so quite by having that evolve and You know, I think we really just scratched the tip of the iceberg So it sounds like we should we need to continue on that that whatever the grant process is We might be talking about that a bit more later in the show with some other things that are happening in regards to UH So we'll cover that soon and we'll come back and chat about where we see this evolving and growing next Hello, and welcome to the Savvy Chick show on think tech Hawaii I'm the weekly host at 11 a.m. Honolulu time very excited for the next six weeks We have the Aspire series which is all about the coolest careers I could find and interviewing and getting insights from these amazing people who want to share it with you and help you live Your dreams look forward to seeing you on the show Hey, how you doing? Welcome to about you talk. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm your co-host and we have a nice program here every Friday at one O'clock on think tech studios where we talk about technology and we have a little bit of fun with it So join us if you can thanks, aloha For a very healthy summer watch Viva Hawaii We're giving you the best tips and with our best health coach here. So Viva health coach Viva la comida saludable Oh and welcome back to think take Hawaii My name is James okay with the Hawaii food and farmer series covering for justine and Matt while they're off Surfing and having a great life They'll be back soon and in the studio today. We have Raphael from surf writer and Jen who's a local permablitz addict Jen has corrected me that I misspoke early with the web address. It's actually permablitz Hawaii Dot-com because we're gonna make a lot of money out of this someday. I presume I Don't know. We'll have to talk to Matt about that. But he is a capitalist, right? So So I definitely Google permablitz Hawaii Yeah, cool logo. So yeah, very creative people we have up on the screen. I don't know who did the design, but Justin talk wait actually designed that culture shocker. Oh, right, right, right. Cool. Cool. Yeah. Yeah, Justin Okay, I've actually used Justin on different projects. So again another like a small community coming together, right to do good stuff so The the program how we've been going right now. I and we've just covered the evolution of the programs scaling up Currently, I believe it's only a wahoo that's doing this program under surf writer And that's because the way surf writer functions as a nonprofit headquarters or the mother ships in California and Each basically each area could have its own chapter should they Want to go for it and get funded by the local or the by the the foundation the headquarters. So have other chapters around different islands being made aware of this concept yet Do you think Raphael and are they looking into it? Yeah, there's there's definitely a growing interest in it as well I think they go with the growing interest So as you said starting in California, I mean it's really taken off in California because of the The water shortages that we see there So there's a whole different focus there in terms of the water retention and these zero escapes which are trying to Have non-water-intensive plants, but here in Hawaii. There's definitely that opportunity to grow food and and the model that we've created is definitely been getting attention nationally as well from our from our national offices and then recently we held our Surfighter Hawaii chapters conference and that's where all of our chapters from Hilo Kona Kauai and Maui all came over here so so we could discuss our different programs We did a big blitz with all that capital right the human capital. That was a huge blitz that weekend I'm sure we took advantage of all that Yeah, but they definitely we were able to do presentations at the at the conference about this program And I know there's already interest We've had some people who have moved over to Hilo from from the Oahu chapter And they're working really hard on trying to figure out a way to harness the the permaculture group Groups that are already over on Big Island doing work as well so that we can transfer this across probably not as well Organize this we are in Hawaii, but I'm sure they mean well. Anyway, just joking neighborhood Island so good So then again, you've touched on the reason why it's really ramped up is this grant from the Hawaii Tourism Authority With that grant if you get it could that also help the other neighbor neighboring islands Or would that just be for the Hawaii chapter? It would depend on how it was structured and written I guess Yeah, exactly. I mean for now with with I oversee the Oahu chapter So my responsibility in terms of finding funding is with our chapter, but I think that I There's also a model that can be used for grants across the islands as well and HCA HCA They both provide funding I see all over the state Hawaii Community Foundation Hawaii Tourism Authority, right? They both provide funding programs that are open to nonprofits all over and because we have this umbrella 501c3 nonprofit of surfrider all of our chapters have that ability to To go after those types of grandmas and that sounds like a great thing for any non-profit that wants to partner because that's ultimately this is about partnerships and Sort of using the same model and making it better rather than recreating a new model to try to try to do the same thing So this sounds like it could be opportunity for other non-profit partners that surfrider deals with anyway and sort of having Them come in and sort of organize them to use their resource community networks to join into this Huey that's sort of doing the same mission Absolutely, I think just to jump in on the grant funding as well as well. It's really pushing the program forward I think what we want to emphasize too is though that this spreads organically as well Is that by having funding we can we can really teach people what to do So at each one of these Surflets is we actually have workshops where people understand different components of the process but the idea is that they take that home with them and they take that to their neighbor and they take that to their family and That's how it really spreads as well is organically where they can have their own garden parties because they learned enough at one of our Events that then we have a spreading across not only our island Not only the other islands all the way to the mainland and that's the idea is that this idea of sustainability spreads Spreads through that way right, right? Yeah I definitely agree and it's kind of you never know what you're gonna learn when you go there I think that's kind of the beauty of the thing like you never know what you're gonna do anyway You don't know you get some email and you have to react to it so quickly Otherwise you can't go anyway So you don't even know what you've signed up for by the time you know you're gonna do it Then if you get in you just appear and you're like, okay Well, what am I doing and they're like over there and we're doing all this stuff and you know You could be planting banana trees or doing some weird berm or whatever and then there's always that side that you learn But then inevitably you're you're meeting a vegan chef that's telling you how to cook gulu somewhere And they're just like oh right and then she oh by the way I've just made them there and you're like oh this is amazing stuff So you kind of that little thing where there's so many leg lobes the whole day that you it's amazing the stuff You can learn that you will retain and and definitely share with you with your friends and neighbors So yeah, I think it's a very positive thing So, you know, I think as this evolves, you know, any watchers or listeners are thinking, you know How could we get involved? It sounds like either Pema Blitz Hawaii or Surfrider Foundation sounds like a great contact points to you know share ideas You know what resources that they might have that you we could all use and sort of see how we could partner together So yeah, that's a big plug for the community I think to get out there and sort of get get involved and definitely You know experience in my mind is definitely the best teacher you got you've got to come out and do one Meet the people hang out get dirty get in the soil and then that then it changes your whole perspective I think of really what food and farming is about and Hawaii is a special place That's why people choose to be here. So I think it helps you sort of get into the mindset of maybe what you know 100 years ago, even though we've evolved a lot since then but I know when we did our permaculture design Course that was for me incredible. That's how we went to all the different areas on a wahoo and met a bunch of farmers And did you have any like really fond memories that you can go back to in that course and be like, oh, yeah, wow, that was That whole course was amazing. I don't think I can take one piece of it. The whole Come on. All right. That's all right But Hunts, it would say the same so you know He wasn't wearing his dress there though, so I don't think so I had no chance there were so many amazing moments the whole experience stands out as a Predominant experience in my life not only in terms of what I learned But how I learned the way in which we learned in these outdoor settings With two phenomenon phenomenal teachers who taught in a very experience based manner And they were playful and funny as well and very intelligent and very knowledgeable what about what they did know That context was amazing the food context was as amazing as you can remember all of Jen's amazing dessert She would bring us And just the community how bonded we became as a group I to this day think that that was the best PDC group ever This is Shawn actually at the back the lunatic with the big head on yeah So Shawn and they see polite act to at the top there So they're they've started a group that's actually really kind of evolved from this whole Concept to so there that I think they've been on here. I think take a couple times Hopefully by now, but friends with farms. I don't why Manalo so this was this was a blitz that happened there And you know just being in that environment with those amazing people and that's the backdrop, but you know, so Really, you can just stand there and have a great day You don't actually have to do anything, but they kind of appreciate if you do but um That's why I always go help somewhere else, but um, yes So that no that I think that that's really where I have been really sort of honored to be part of their their groups and their families, too It's kind of still Once you've done something in positive on someone's land They do feel that love and respect for the honor that you do and it's a it is a way to really collaborate and Move forward with Hawaii and that's really where we're at now is you know We we now for the first time that I was aware of how to have a state food Goal where we're trying to be growing more local food and that that's something that was just announced at the conference I use the end so that that to me was unsupply like an interesting but Surprising announcement, but really positive and I think it'd be worthwhile trying to quantify Empirically with data how to you know, what impact does this program have on that goal and What what is actually going to be the end result which I think should translate into applying for bigger grants So, you know, it makes sense to you know use the Rockefeller opportunity maybe to put even leverage this kind of grant opportunity to a much higher level I think that kind of we see where it's going and where it could go So and there's also been another group that another cool person Sam Ruitt started the soup concept ended up kick-starting another Very creative concept called the UH tool library. I believe is that was the final name? so Yeah, obviously doing all this work you can do it with your hands, but it takes a lot of time So we need tools right so rough you think you know a bit more about what's going on with that concept and Ultimately where it could go maybe. Yeah, absolutely. So this is amazing. It's brand new to the island designed by UH sustainability students Incredible that they've they've got it going they found space with Ryu's Hawaii And I believe they're launching in November I actually just got off the phone with their director this morning trying to figure out ways that we can partner with the Surf blitz program and it's a great idea it's a concept where basically they want to have an inventory of tools that is available to the public and Through monthly dues you'll you have access to this library rather than going out and buying a $500 chainsaw or weed whacker that you once and then keeping your cabinet collecting dust Exactly is like there it's gonna have this this opportunity for the public to be able to you if they need something one time They come in and they can use the the tool library and we're looking into ways to partner as I said that Perhaps even our tool library from the surf blitz program can be part of their tool library and and again it's just about that growing community and giving people opportunities to to be able to work their land and and Not have to invest completely in those tools that are really expensive for a lot of people So that's I mean in talking with them today That's part of the design is is to open it up to so many different parts of the community You may not be able to afford to buy their own tools Yeah, and that you know that's sharing anything obviously that's it means you have to communicate Right, which is part of the community building the community through communication and sharing and it's I think it's a great concept that that that So yeah kudos to the UH guys for sort of following that crazy idea when I first heard about it I'm like, okay, this is gonna get problematic and are probably well, but you know, they're gonna get over that right? It's kind of adapting and surviving so I think We follow up that last plug I want to make is for this Saturday So and that's kind of why I wanted to rally people with this show today was we're the first time ever so puts is doing it at a public school So poor or in Kenya. Oh, hey That's why these guys are here so nine o'clock till three o'clock Basically, and it's on the website details are on the website. I'm a bit away as well as surfer or what who does surfer Excellent to check the website right there and um, yeah, everyone's invited kids welcome families welcome Come and just check it out and have a look really even if you don't want to do anything, but it's you know amazing day I was gonna go to the big island for the Hawaii Firm is United Conference conference But I think I'm gonna stay here and do that now be carbon friendly Yeah, it's great. I mean for the at the school as well as we I mean we just need as many people as possible Yep, so it's great. Come on out. Come on down. All right. Well, thanks guys for coming in That's a place. Yeah. All right, so that's it for today. Thank you for tuning in and we'll see you again next week