Sustainable Island Products

Right: SIP Logo

Jesse Law is the founder and present owner of Sustainable Island Products (SIP) and also has two degrees in green building. SIP is a eco-friendly based company that sells non-toxic green chemicals such as glass cleaners, bathroom cleaners, hand soaps, Sternos, and many more. SIP also sells cups, spoons and sushi trays, to name a few, which are made from leftover corn material. The plates are made from leftover sugar cane materials. He first started this business in January of 2007. He moved here from New Mexico a few years ago and immediately wanted to help the community here. He was inspired to make a change and do something about the landfill issues, which have been going on for many years. Law said, “I just want to help the place wherever I live. There was too much trash and the government couldn’t agree on what to do with it.”

One option was to burn the trash, which is the option Law was definitely against. So Law looked for other options, he came up with compost material. Most of his consumer items are biodegradable in 90 days or compose to soil.

SIP sells many items at low prices, making consumers attracted to their products. Cups are made out of corn and the paper is made out of sugar cane. All of the items are also imported from Asia, but the Styrofoam comes from Oahu. The glass cleaner that was Eco-friendly shocked many people. Not only did you save the environment from many chemicals, but also you would save yourself lots of money. If you buy one reusable spray bottle and a gallon of glass cleaner, you wouldn’t have to keep buying regular spray bottles in the store, which aren’t recyclable. You could just refill the spray bottles with your galloon of glass cleaners and use it much longer than a regular spray bottle. Helping the environment by keeping all those spray bottles out of the landfills.

When asked why he wants to make a change to a community he is still new to, he said, “Everyone should steward the community they live in. I’m a steward, I want to help people, help the community.”

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Ukulele Jazz Concert Feat. Benny Chong and Byron Yasui

Right: Benny Chong and Byron Yasui pose for the camera

By Kenny Cabanting

Hawaii has many characteristics that make the people who live here different from those living on the Mainland. The arts here, especially, are expressed through the various types of instruments and dances of Hawaiian culture. From a number of instruments, the “ukulele” is the most well-known and used in modern Hawaiian music. For some time, the sounds of the ukulele have been heard in pop and reggae; now it’s being heard in a jazz form of music.

Musicians took part in was a concert held last Friday, June 25. The historical Palace Theatre in Downtown Hilo hosted the ukulele musicians, Benny Chong and Byron Yasui. The duo performed blends of ukulele and jazz. As the opening act of the concert, local band, Ben Kaili and Friends began the evening with wonderful acoustic sounds.

Before the concert I had the opportunity to interview Benny Chong. As a self-taught learner of the ukulele, Benny grew up on Oahu, hoping to make music of his own. The main sources that inspired him to become a musician were his uncles. Learning chord after chord, Benny was able to conjure up and also build his creativity from simplicity. By taking songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “Crazy G,” and adding his own flavor to it. He showed his originality along with his ability to progress as a musician by combining the older songs with his own mixtures. Benny has been performing as a musician all his life, first off playing solo, then at the age of 18 forming “The Ali`is.” He eventually went on to perform with Jake Shimabukuro and Byron Yasui.

His experience and journey as a musician is still flying high, displaying incredible sounds on the ukulele. With knowledge of playing various types of music, Benny considers “contemporary music” his favorite genre.

In my sit-down interview with Benny, he said, “I can teach music, but I cannot teach creativity.“

His strong words were inspiring given the fact that music is about expressing an individual’s thoughts or feelings and about not what others think. In the end, I asked him, “What advice would you give young musicians out there?” Benny replied back: “Don’t make music a full-time job. . . only a small percentage of people will actually make it.” Teaching is an aspect that Benny loves. With already one album out titled “Ukulele Jazz,” he now wants to take on other projects such as creating books and videos about playing the ukulele.

Also included in the Ukulele Jazz duo is Byron Yasui. He has a significant background in music. As a music professor since 1972 at University of Hawaii at Manoa, his knowledge for this type of art is put into teaching. Skilled in music composition and theory, jazz double bass, guitar, as well as ukulele, Byron’s passion for music is endless. Once being part of the symphony, he now performs all over the country. The works he produced as a composer earned him numerous awards as well as the opportunity for those works to be performed in prestigious theatres, such as Carnegie Hall. Byron now has one album out titled “Anahola” which features a number of island contemporary songs. In the future, there are many more music projects that he wants to take on.

Soon after, on center stage, both Benny and Byron presented their ukulele jazz music. Sponsored by the Hilo Palace Theatre and VKG Enterprise, this spectacular event displayed the great talents of the two musicians. Benny on ukulele, and Byron playing the double bass as well as the ukulele, the duo filled the theatre with incredible music. Performing a medley which included “The Mickey Mouse Club Theme Song” and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” the audience had a chance to reminisce their childhood. Among the many pieces they played, the most interesting was composed by the famous Tchaikovsky — “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” The duo’s ukulele version of the composition was impressive. Throughout the evening, the audience enjoyed the entertainment provided by both Benny and Byron and in the end, a stand up ovation made the concert a perfect success.

Woman walks 240-miles for Special Needs Children

Right: Angelina Lovato poses with a child that has special needs

By Quelyn Ni'ipali and Jade Shimizu

Once again, 58-year-old, Angelina Lovato from Captain Cook completed a 240-mile walk around Hawaii Island. Lovato’s goal was to raise money for Hawaii Island’s special needs children. Lovato started her first marathon walk on June 8, 2009, from Konawaena Elementary where Lovato works as a reading tutor.

For her second annual marathon, the route she followed started on Malamahoa Highway. This year she began every morning before the sun came up, between 5 and 5:30 a.m. to take advantage of the colder temperatures. Lovato’s husband, Randy, followed her with their van full of medical and nutritional supplies. “My job, is to keep her safe,” said Randy.

Everyday for 12 days she walked 20 miles. There were many supporters encouraging her at rest stops. This year the marathon started on May 27, 2010 and ended June 7, 2010. There were different host families that Lovato and her husband would spend the night with.

At the end of the walk, Lovato’s feet were covered in blisters. As crazy as this sounds, Lovato said “I’d actually like to complete this walk two more times, so I can say I walked 1,000 miles for the kids.”

Her fund goal was $15,000 and her long-term goal is $150,000. Lovato raised $9,300 before, during her 2009 efforts and after the marathon. Angelina wants to raise enough money to develop a facility

Kellogg's Recall

Right: Four cereals recalled by Kellogg's

Kellogg’s Brand Cereal, the world’s largest cereal company June 25 recalled around 28 million cereal boxes across America due to various complaints by customers. Cases of nausea and vomiting were reported with 20 customers complaining they noticed a nasty smell coming from the cereal. Kellogg’s spokesperson Adaire Putnam said the “waxy” odor could make people sick. The cereals with the most recalls are Fruit Loops, Apple Jacks, Pops, and Honey Smacks.

The Kellogg’s franchise is trying to identify what substance on the liner is causing the problem. The president of the company, David Mckay, formally apologized to the public for this incident, stating the customer’s health and safety is top priority for the company. To check if you own one of the boxes being recalled, look at the expiration date on the box. The affected boxes are dated March 26, 2011 and June 22, 2011.

The Kellogg’s decision comes in a period where other high-profile voluntary recalls have been made by businesses such as McDonalds and Girl Scout Cookies; however, unlike these recalls, the Kellogg’s incident posed no health risks. With consumers being asked to return products to the shelves so frequently, many of them might worry that producers are getting careless about the things they release.

Kellogg’s reaction to the complaints came quickly with the troublesome products coming back in a short amount of time, still there were concerns about how it was handled. Alina Popescu tweeted this on the Everything PR website: “What puzzles me is that the recall has happened on Friday but according to the Examiner.com coverage of the topic, they waited until Sunday to issue a press statement explaining the situation.”

On the consumer alert website for the Kellogg’s franchise, the company stated, “These packages are being recalled because we identified a substance in the package liner that can produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell. The off-tastes and smells are caused by a slightly elevated level of a substance commonly present at very low levels in the waxy resins used to make packaging materials that are approved by the FDA. These resins are also commonly used to coat foods such as cheese, raw fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers. We did not find any substances that are not commonly used in packaging materials.”

Youth News sent two reporters to the closest grocery store and they were unable to find any product dated during the recall time frame.

For more information on the topic refer to http://consumeralert.kelloggs.com/consumeralert.aspx?id=3870

You may also contact the Kellogg Consumer Response Center at the following number: 888-801-4163. If you a box of cereal reported in the time zones of affected boxes, contact the company and a full refund will be given.