Project Kanu
Equus Hotel is proud to be Waikiki’s first Green Hotel. As an environmentally-friendly hotel, it’s an important part of our mission to educate guests on the opportunity to participate in keeping Hawaii beautiful for future generations to enjoy. We make every effort to improve our footprint on Mother Nature and preserve the natural beauty of Hawaii, while continuing to provide the comforts of our family-owned boutique hotel.
As a proud partner of Kind Traveler’s Every Stay Gives Back certification supporting Hawaii Farm Trails’ Project Kanu, The Equus Hotel is dedicated to empowering guests to contribute towards agroforestry efforts in planting carbon-sequestering food trees that will nourish and regenerate Hawaii.
Guests are invited to make a positive impact in our local community with Hawaii Farm Trails with a $5 per/stay “Community Impact Contribution” to advance food security and agroforestry efforts in planting carbon-sequestering food trees at locally owned farms. Equus Hotel proudly matches contributions with an additional $5 per/stay in creating a sustainable future for our local community.
WHY FOOD TREES?
AGROFORESTRY – A TRADITIONAL FORM OF AGRICULTURE THAT INTEGRATES
TREES WITH CROPS AND/OR LIVESTOCK IN A SYSTEM THAT IS MORE REGENERATIVE ECONOMICALLY, AND ECOLOGICALLY THAN THAT OF THE SINGLE COMPONENTS ON THEIR OWN.
We can reverse the damage we’ve done—and we can do it while we grow food. Trees
in agroforestry systems store vast amounts of carbon, comparable amounts to those
of afforestation and forest restoration, while enabling farmers to leave the bulk of their
land in agricultural production, promoting food security. Farmers gain income and
resilience from multiple crops growing on unique timelines.
Project Drawdown ranks agroforestry practices such as “Tree Intercropping” and “Multistrata Agroforestry” as the 17th and 28th best ways to sequester greenhouse gas
emissions.
“The widespread adoption of agroforestry practices in the United States could
sequester 530 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, thereby
transforming agriculture into a carbon sink.” — EarthJustice.org
IT ALL STARTS WITH ONE BREADFRUIT TREE
WHAT SORT OF CO-BENEFITS CAN A TREE PROVIDE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS? SOURCES SAY THAT 1 BREADFRUIT TREE EQUALS TO APPROXIMATELY:
$900 food (450lbs of starch – food for a family of 4)
$750 water recycled
$625 soil erosion prevented
$1300 pollution controlled
(to name a few)
HOW IT WORKS
‘ULU (BREADFRUIT) IS A CULTURALLY IMPORTANT TREE THAT HAS GREAT POTENTIAL TO FEED LOCAL POPULATION AND REPLACE IMPORTED FOOD. THIS PROJECT PROVIDES THEM TO FARMERS WHO ARE BEST POSITIONED TO PUT THE HARVESTS BACK INTO OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS.
1. Select from the 3 options to sponsor:
i. Purchase, ii. Subscribe, iii. Gift
2. If you’re curious about the carbon cost of your travel, refer to our Carbon Guide
3. Purchase
4. You receive a confirmation email with a sharable “Food Trees for the Future” Badge
5. Within a month you receive another follow-up email letting you know where your trees will be planted.
6. The farmer receives trees to plant & with resources from us on soil information and care.
7. The host farm is featured and promoted.
8. 3-5yrs later the farmer will start to see the first fruits.
Learn more about Hawaii Farm Trails and Project Kanu by visiting their website.
Use code EQUUS at checkout and get 5% off Project Kanu products. Mahalo for your kokua!