HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0482.345 2024-2026From:
Alesha Makuakane
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Sent:
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 10:10 AM
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To:
Council Testimony
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Subject:
Kona Smith Support Bill 83
Aloha
County Council Members,
My name
is Kona Smith, and I am a senior from
Ka'u and I support bill
83.
In my community, we are facing a pressing crisis. Our island's landfill is
filling up, and soon it will reach capacity. Single use plastics are at the heart
of this problem. They aren't just harming the environment; they're
poisoning our communities. These plastics are a storm that poisons our
home, our aina.
In Hawaii, plastic doesn't just disappear when we throw it away; it
clogs our waterways, litters our beaches and our forests, and breaks down
into toxic microplastics that contaminate our soil and ocean - threatening
local food systems, marine and wild life, and the livelihoods of our people.
It harms the native species that make Hawai'i unique. In Hawaiian values,
the aina is not just land; it's our very ancestors that once walked on this
soil. When we pollute the aina we create that imbalance with our kupuna
and jeopardize the future for generations to come. The work that we are
doing is showing that we can break free from `plastic, but we need the
county's support in passing this bill to allow it to continue and spr d t S Comm. o
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other communities across the island.Mahalo for giving me this opportunity
to speak on this important issue.
Mahalo
Kona Smith
Kahuku,96737
Me ke aloha,
Ulu Makuakane
Recycle Hawaii - EPA REO Grant Program Program Director
www. recy_Clehawaii.oro
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