By JOSEPH W. MEEKER

For The Beachcomber

My home is on 10 acres of forest land near the middle of Vashon Island. We use a wood stove that consumes about three cords of firewood each year. Trees around us show tree rings of about half an inch a year. A little arithmetic demonstrates that our forest produces more than 100 cords of new wood annually. In the 25 years we have lived here, we have burned less than the volume of wood provided by one year’s forest growth. That part of our lives, at least, is sustainable.

Our other heating comes from a geothermal system that warms our house, pre-heats water and provides air conditioning on the one or two days a year when it is needed. The geothermal system needs no fuel storage, produces no smoke and runs quietly with very little need for maintenance. Electricity from off-Island powers the system, but much less than the electric baseboard that it replaced. Between wood and geothermal, all of our warmth comes from the land we live upon.

Small islands are seldom able to provide for all the needs of modern people, but it is worth the effort to strive toward sustainability. Recently, the “Bulb for a Buck” program on Vashon replaced more than 10,000 incandescent lights with low-energy fluorescents.

Many Islanders are working on ways to make solar energy more practical and efficient, and wind and tidal energy sources may be important in our future.

More hybrid cars appear on our roads each year, and Islanders often carpool to save gas and money. Planning is under way to build an all-electric auto at Vashon College. Van pools regularly reduce the number of commuting vehicles leaving the Island.

Islanders are learning to eat foods produced nearby, either from their own gardens or from local farmers. Many participated in the “100-mile diet” program to use only foods from neighboring areas.

The recycling area at the Vashon Transfer Station is lined with cars every time I visit it. Islanders are among the most devoted recyclers in our part of the country.

Most of the world’s small islands need help from outside to sustain the good life, but the more we limit our imports, the happier we will be.

— Joseph Meeker will co-lead a seminar on island studies at Vashon College in spring 2009. Sustainability on small islands will be one of the topics explored in the seminar. Information is available at vashoncollege.org.