My daughter's fourth-grade science class studied soil formation this year, and as part of the learning process, the class created a compost bin.

My daughter was a regular contributor. She was a composting zealot.

As we discussed the project at home, we began to talk about conservation and all the things we could do to live more sustainably. Together we came up with a list of initiatives and formed our first family sustainability contract.

Our plan is simple: Change our behaviors in four distinct arenas.

Step 1: Reduce. We believe that our most significant change will revolve around reducing our consumption and our waste. We have to learn to get by with less and find alternative ways of disposing of our waste.

Our plan is to start our own compost bin, using worms. (You gotta love any conservation effort that involves slimy critters.) The hope is to have our bin up by the summer.

Step 2: Reuse. Not a problem here, we reuse everything. I save zip ties, old nails and scrap lumber. My wife has been known to wash plastic forks, and my daughter, who recently broke her arm, has been using the same garbage bag to cover her arm in the shower for the past month.

Step 3: Recycle. To be honest, our family is late to the recycling bin, and it is my fault. I was angry with our local government for charging me to do something that in most states is free, if not in fact rewarded. I finally gave up and admitted that I could no longer participate in the waste just to spite the city and county. So now we recycle, and my daughter keeps the profits. She literally runs to the fridge to get me a drink.

Step 4: Shop locally. No single act of sustainability gives me greater joy than buying local products from a mom-and-pop store.

Recent research shows that only 15 cents of every dollar spent at a big-box chain stays within the community. When you buy from a local vendor, nearly 45 cents of every dollar stays at home.

Additionally, when you buy local products, you actually reduce your carbon footprint. On the Mainland, produce travels an average of nearly 1,500 miles. It is much worse for produce coming into Hawai'i. When you buy local, you reduce product travel by thousands of miles, thus reducing the resource burden.

Clearly, we can't meet all of our needs through local products. Still, our family has devised a decision tree to determine the best course of action. Option 1: Buy local product(s) from local vendors within our community. Option 2: Buy local product(s) from local vendors in other communities. Option 3: Buy nonlocal products from local vendors. Option 4: Buy non-local product(s) from nonlocal vendors. Option 5: Buy from big-box chain.

I will be honest: I am not sure our plan will work, but my family and I are convinced that we have to try.

At worst, I believe we may save a mom-and-pop store. And at best, my daughter believes we just may save the planet.

Michael C. DeMattos is a member of the faculty at the University of Hawai'i School of Social Work. He lives in Kane'ohe with his wife, daughter, two dogs and two mice.