As Maui author Kirsten Whatley points out, "The economy is down and gas prices are up — most of us have little money to spend, let alone travel."

Her advice: Be an environmental volunteer. "It's free, it's good for the 'aina, and it lets you rediscover your own island while at the same time protecting it."

Whatley knows. She's written the book on it: "Preserving Paradise: Opportunities in Volunteering for Hawai'i's Environment," which hits Mainland stores tomorrow.

Whatley shared a dozen tips from her book for those who want to go beyond "green" and give back to the community:

1. Live a day in the life of a monk seal or spend the night protecting sea turtles, and become a voice for these rare creatures.

2. Take to the sands for a beach cleanup, toting away the flotsam and jetsam that washes ashore, and with it a threat to our ecosystem.

3. Join a roadside beautification effort, replacing litter and debris with trees and flowers, starts and seeds.

4. Go for a hike while pulling weeds from your path, blazing a trail for other nature seekers to follow.

5. Preserve native agriculture by stepping into the waters of a lo'i kalo, or taro patch; or get schooled in the ways of a loko i'a, a fishpond.

6. Turn your next dive or snorkel into a research trip, and help survey the rainforest of the sea.

7. Become a student of native plants by volunteering in the living library of an arboretum or ethnobotanical garden.

8. Protect the waters of a watershed, or reforest a forest, bringing health back to the home of Hawai'i's birds.

9. Record the splashes of passing whales from your beach chair, or climb aboard a research boat to track the lives of spinner dolphins.

10. Apprentice on an organic farm and learn to live off the land with a bunch of like-minded folks.

11. Work with wild and abandoned animals at an animal refuge or wildlife rehabilitation center.

12. Share what you've learned about respecting and protecting our precious Island environment with others.

For more details about short-term projects like these, how to get in touch with more than 65 organizations that can use your help, and to hear what other volunteers have to say, look for "Preserving Paradise: Opportunities in Volunteering for Hawai'i's Environment" in bookstores throughout Hawai'i. It can also be ordered online at www.preservingparadisevolunteering.com.