Bella Hughes remembers picking up seashells on Waimānalo Beach in Hawaiʻi as a kid. Today, she says her children pick up microplastics.

“Being from an island, our resources are precious,” the O‘ahu-born entrepreneur says. “You just cannot be from Hawaiʻi and not be hyper-aware of all of the pressing environmental concerns around you.”

It’s one of the reasons she and her husband launched Shaka Tea, which brews its tea using a superleaf called māmaki found only in Hawaiʻi. As the host plant for the state’s native and endangered pulelehua butterfly, māmaki can help restore the state’s ecosystem by providing habitats for the pollinators like these.

Bella says her business is built on the idea of sustainability and aloha — but not in the sense that some might think. For people like Bella who call Hawaiʻi home, aloha means much more than just “hello” or “goodbye.” It’s shorthand for the way of life and culture that makes the state unique and inherently committed to inclusive sustainability.

“It’s the goodness, the kindness, the humility, and the respect we wish to see in the world,” she says.

The company provided free māmaki seedlings to local farmers to kick-start the market and now sources directly from 18 small family farms, paying a guaranteed premium for each harvest. Their tea is locally manufactured, naturally sugar-free to keep the company’s diabetic consumers in mind, and priced to be affordable for lower-income households. It’s also SNAP-approved.

“Sustainability is rooted — first and foremost — in the environment, but it’s also about how you treat people,” Bella said.

The uniquely Hawaiian concept of aloha is one shaped by the state’s distinct biodiversity and geology. It’s home to some of the most breathtaking natural wonders in the world: pristine beaches, active volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, canyons, mountains, and the greatest number of climate zones in the world.

This unparalleled natural beauty draws more than 10 million visitors each year to Hawaiʻi’s shores, a flow that makes up approximately 20% of state revenue. So when COVID-19 halted global travel in March 2020, Hawaiʻi suffered more job losses per capita than any other state. The economic fallout brought devastating disruptions and surreal scenes. Hundreds of unused rental cars filled the parking lot of an eerily empty sports stadium. Local food banks and homeless shelters drew a crush of people in need.

The pandemic’s impact in Hawaiʻi highlights a global pattern: In times of crisis, the vulnerable often suffer the most. Low-income households that depend on minimum-wage jobs are typically the first to lose them. Most of the service jobs lost during the shutdown in Hawaiʻi belonged to women and people of color.

Read the full article about SDG progress in Hawai'i by MJ Altman at the United Nations Foundation.