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In fact, the increases every business faces yearly such as rent,payroll, taxes, food costs, and overhead are far, far greater. So the price of food is not materially affected by the choice of container. I know this from real life, experience, not from conjecture or estimation. I was the 2015 SBA State Businessperson of the Year for having grown my business to over 200 employees from a modest start 18 years ago. I don't consider myself an expert on many subjects, but regarding the business of selling food, I feel qualified to speak. I compare this discussion to the plastic bag reduction bill several years ago. At that time all the same arguments were made as to why we could not do this here. "It's too expensive, it will harm business, local folks will never learn new habits, and it will harm sellers of the banned products. In reality, none of these were true. We learned to do without single use plastic bags, no businesses failed, either in retail or distributors, local folks did indeed learn new habits, we saved precious landfill space, we protected our environment, and the sky did not fall. As a business that had already dropped plastic bags, I was in a position to confirm that these arguments against the ban were false. I helped convince some councilmembers that it was the right thing to do. Today our island is cleaner, and our shores are healthier as a result. Four years ago I watched as the state backed down from a polystyrene ban, largely in deference to a distributor of polystyrene which testified it would cost jobs. The same company today asks you to defer action for the same reasons. The question must be asked why such businesses are not preparing for a shift to safer alternatives, given the worldwide movement against polystyrene. Those that have not begun to plan for this change are being irresponsible to their business interests. This change cannot be avoided. It's a matter of when, not if. As with plastic bags, unfortunately it falls to the counties to take the lead. Our state legislature is regretfully too timid to pass this ban statewide. But that highlights the important role and exciting opportunity you have here today. Just as with the plastic bag ban, the counties moved first. The willingness of some counties, including ours, to proceed emboldened the other counties to follow. Today we have a virtual statewide ban on single use plastic bags, due to the courage and vision of the Hawaii County Council. Today you can once again be a leader in protecting our environment and pono action. Polystyrene, aka `Styrofoam,' is the worst plastic pollutant in everyday use today. It is the most damaging to the environment in its manufacture and disposal. (I will leave aside for now the health hazards it presents to consumers, which are significant.) It is entirely unnecessary,just as single use plastic bags were. There are affordable, safe, attractive alternatives to every polystyrene product. While I am unable to attend today's hearing due to my legislative session in Honolulu, I am happy to answer any questions. 2