A DIFFERENT KIND OF SOUVENIER

Molokai, Hawaii, is the fifth largest of the Hawaii Islands, with a population of roughly 7,000.  It is most famous for housing a small colony of lepers, which operated until the late 1960s or early 1970s.  (Currently, there are no known cases of leprosy on Molokai.)  Nowadays, Molokai is a tourist destination -- National Geographic Traveler recently placed it in its top 10 islands to visit.

But if you go, do not send a postcard.  Send a coconut.  An unboxed, unpackaged coconut.  If you go to Molokai's Hoolehua post office, you can do exactly that -- for free.  (You just pay for the shipping.)

It's called a "Post-a-Nut" and the process is amazingly simple. Take a coconut from one of the plastic bins on the floor, as seen right.  Grab a marker.  Address and decorate your coconut.  Then give it to the Postmaster, Gary Lam.  He'll weigh it, look to see where it is going, and ask you for the appropriate amount in postage.  (Domestically, mailing the coconut will cost about $10-12 and take as long as a week.)  No envelope is needed nor, for that matter, recommended.

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• Mail a coconut from the Molokai, Hawaii post office (boingboing.net)