The GreenTalks Story: 

GreenTalks® was born out of the experiences of two women (Ruth & Clare) whose lives were changed by the devastating impacts of “Chemical Trespass” in two seperate locations.  “Chemical Trespass” occurs when a chemical is used and intended for a specific area, but becomes air borne and drifts to other places other then its intended location.  These two women’s lives were changed forever almost overnight, and though 9+ years have passed, these two women still struggle to rebuild their lives back to the levels they were prior to their chemical exposure.  In both cases these woman were not the person applying the chemicals or the purchaser of the chemicals.  They both lived very clean, organic lives; one as an organic farmer and the other as a healer.

In their journey to recovery they had to make numerous adjustments to their working and living environments, their diets (even stricter then before, but now out of necessity), their health care, and every day living practices were affected since even the slightest hint of a chemical toxin or mold seemed to affect them.  They had to obtain medication to withstand the affects of going into public environments where they had no control of their surrounding.  Along the way they worked with many experts in the field of environmental medicine, alternative medicine, complimentary medicine, green design for home and garden, & organic agriculture to only name a few.  As the years went by and they got better, Ruth and Clare began noticing many people in their lives were getting sicker and conventional medicine was not getting them well.  They began to notice how the most conservative thinking individuals began looking for non-conventional answers to give them back their health and quality of life.  They began sharing what they had learned and saw that many others began having the same positive responses,

As time past, Ruth and Clare not only saw people’s health being mysteriously affected, but saw people wanting to know how and why their health was becoming so fragile in addition to the health of their parents, spouses and children.  These women were determined to make lemonade out of lemons, so they began making what they learned available to all who were in need in a context that would give back a quality of life that both personally remembered and longed for once again.  This became their personal goal and together with their passion to recapture the Hawaii they grew up with that once nurtured its people; this has turned into their mission and journey to create a life that they love while living Pono Style!

These two organic mom’s with the help of their family and friends, gave birth to GreenTalks®.

What is Living Pono Style?

Our Mission is to create a living model of purposeful living;  We call this “Living Pono”.  “Living Pono” goes beyond green, organic or sustainability, it even goes beyond Organic agriculture.  It is going back to a quality of life whereby we live in harmony with nature, where we attract the goodness in life and savor all the good things we have in our life, by slowing down to appreciate even the most insignificant things; like the fluttering of butterfly wings, the fragrance of night jasmine lingering in the air, the love infused in our food prepared by a family member or friend, it’s laughter and joy.  It’s valuing beauty in its natural, simplistic and intricate forms.  It’s elegant expression and quality in all its forms.  It’s taking the time to recognize the magnificent beauty that surrounds us everyday and recognizing the creator of all this beauty. It’s going back to the traditional values that built families and kept them closely connected.  It’s going back to the village mentality where we all took care of each other and each person was valued as an integral part of the whole.  It’s going back to the land and it’s going back to traditional wisdom where we learn to hear the land and plants speak to us, where we work in partnership with nature and with the creator of all. It’s remembering how to honor the land as a living entity that provides for us and protects us. It’s living in synchronicity with everything and everyone, so collectively we can move humanity to a higher path that serves us all and the generations to follow.

In the last century we began disregarding the bounty all around us and now we have gone past the time of peak resources.  Today we must combine our native wisdom with modern technology, but in order for state of the art technologies to be beneficial to mankind, we must use this science responsibly.  For Material science to achieve its greatest potential it must remain pure.  A successful example of combining spiritual & cultural practices with materials is in the ancient Hawaiian farming practices.  Materials were brought to their fullest potential with powerful prayer, the farmers of the time grew foods of unheard of proportions & yields as documented by the first foreign visitors to the Hawaiian islands.

We must return to Native wisdom and apply their values of conservation, environmental protection and reverence for our soil as our provider of all our needs; Food, energy, clothing and shelter. We do not have the luxury not to conserve and not to find our way back to our source; our Mother, the soil.

We are a solutions based company whose mission is to inspire “Living Pono” through a model of sustainability by combing Ancient Hawaiian wisdom with Future Science in the areas of Agriculture, Health and Home.

GreenTalks® Vision:

GreenTalks® proposes making Hawaii A Living Laboratory for Planetary Sustainability and Living Pono.

We will do this through a year long series of workshops focusing on three aspects of our lives: Food/Agriculture, Health and Home.  Each month we will bring in speakers to teach our participant the latest in responsible science and Kupuna (Elders) & Kahuna’s (Masters in Hawaiian Arts) to bring back the knowledge and wisdom of our Hawaiian Ancestors who lived sustainably and successfully prior to foreign introductions. We call these series: Agriculture 2012; `Aina Momona, Healthy Kino 2012 and Healthy Hawaii Home 2012: Combining Traditional Wisdom and Future Science Today.  Link to workshop page.  These workshops will also be filmed and shown on Olelo.

It is our belief that there is a great shift coming in December 2012.  Preparation for this event comes from within; a consciousness shift.  “Living Pono” requires making this shift and remembering how our ancestors lived in communion with nature.  Our workshops are designed to give our participants the tools to shift into mankind’s next chapter.  These practical hands on techniques and workshops are designed to assist Hawaii’s move back into “Living Pono” and in partnership with Hawaii’s rich resources. 

Our Product:

“Greentalks®” will provide 3 avenues of education; through our " Meal, Movie and a Talk" which invites community conversations with our visiting experts, our "Up Close & Personal Workshops". (Link to Talkss) and a TV series "My Organic Mom- creating a life you love!" that will feature our featured speakers during our hands on workshops and "My Organic Mom- 120 days to the New You"  a video journal/ documentary that includes the various doctors, detoxification techniques, nutrition and menus that is helping Ruth, Clare and a few of their friends re-capture their health and well being.

Each month’s workshop’s will be promoted through the different media avenues in 3 areas of interest: Food/Agriculture, Health and Home.  In the year 2010 we will focus on two of the three areas: Food/ Agriculture & Health;  With the focus on one small farm on the North Shore of Oahu, we will create a "Living Laboratory for Planetary Sustainability and Living Pono".

Link to workshop page

By June 2010 we will launch our online "Living Pono" store; it will include some of Mom's Favorite Things, Aunty Clare's Corner, Aunty Tia's Talkss,& Dr. Paul's Talkss.

At the conclusion of each year's  "Ag 2010 Up Close & Personal Workshop" series, we will have a celebration of the year’s events at our Film and Food Fest that will be a culmination of a multi-day community talk with a panelist of our year’s speakers, a documentary of our project: “Hawaii: A Living Laboratory for Planetary Sustainability and Living Pono”.  It will also include films that manifest the concepts of “Living Pono”, Organic Foods and Regenerative Farming & Health Practices.  We will invite vendors and organizations that fit and compliment the subject matter, so that participants of the festival will be able to have accessibility to the products, people, sponsors and services that exemplify "Living Pono". 

In the year 2011 we will add our Healthy Home and Green Design Series and continue the evolution of our one acre farms as our  "Living Laboratory for Living Pono".  We will launch our Healthy Homes and Green Design Series in the same format as the 2010 "Up Close & Personal Workshops".  We will also launch an internet subscription service that will feature the full 2010 "Up Close and Personal Workshop" series;  to include: “Agriculture 2012 Aina Momona" & "120 Days to the New You": 

In addition, all lectures, community talks, and events for the year 2010 will be accessible through our library. 

Each month in 2011 one of our experts will provide us with a Topic to Ponder and Live. It will be follow up with manifestations of  the  subject, through projects on the farm.

At the year's end we will once again have our annual Film and Food Fest celebrating the year’s accomplishments on film.

Our Goal by December 2012 is to have a completed example of "A Living Laboratory for Living Pono Style" and to open it up for public viewing.