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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0730.001 2000-2002 JNS'r'OF H4`Y v~•~' 94 j ~ \~'Lros•, Harry Kim ~ ~ Barbara Bell -~Y,.; Mayor , ~ Director ,TE'oF~M~'~ ~1.illtYi~'~ Q~ .~t~1T~ICt _ DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 25 Aupuni Street, Room 208 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720-4252 ~ (808) 961-8083 • Fax (808) 961-8086 - August 28, 2002 TO Chairman James Arakaki and Members Hawaii County Council FROM Barbara Belk, Director RE: Resolution to Adopt Addendum to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan for the County of Hawaii COPIES/ITEMS DESCRIPTION 4 Letters regarding the Addendum to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan TRANSMITTED FOR: [X] Information and Files [ ] Approval [ ] Signature and Return [ ] Review and Comments [ ] Signature and Forwarding As Noted Below [ ] See Remarks Below [ ] Pursuant to Your Request [ ] Filing and Return REMARKS: Deadline for public comments is August 31, 2002. These are comments received as of August 28, 2002. /sh enclosures Comm, No, a, 'ib >t! ale Ido.,~, I3ef. fio• Ret. Date g AUG 2 2002 August 26, 2002 TO: County of Hawaii Department of Envirorunental Allanagernent 25 Aupuni Street, Hiio, HI 96720 FROM: Carol Perry POB 8, Kapa'nu HI 9b755 889-0317; iolnnil7~ilhawaii.net SUBJECT: COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT ADDENDUM TO THE INTEGRATED SOLICI lll/ASTE A~ANAGEa~IENT PLAN FOR Tf-OE CO(JNTY OF ~-dAVtlAII I congratulate you on the I51A/MP addendum and direct my comments to the re~clinc~ grogram. I read the Executive Summary and only browsed other areas of the report, so please excuse me if I suggest something which is already recommended but which I°ve overlooked. Please just take that as confirmation. I've recycled for over 30 years (mostly in Oregon, ors of the recycling pioneers) and been greatly concerned over the lack of awareness regarding recycling on our island since I arrived in 1995. A couple of years ago, I wrote a short editorial for the Kohala Mountain News (unfortunately, now defunct) offering simple, practical suggestions for how people could incorporate recycling into their daily lives (copy enclosed). I doubt many changed their ways as a result of this little article, however, because old habits die hard. That the County has now envisioned a comprehensive recycling plan and is putting the machinery in place to implement it, with the full force of the law behind it, is necessary and appropriate. Recycling can no longer be deemed optional, especially for a small, rocky island in the middle of the Pacific. More specifically: Establishing recycling drop-off centers at transfer stations and reconfi~urina transfer stations for recycling To help ensure compliance with the new plan and to make recycling convenient and less of a radical change far many, altering the existing transfer stations to accommodate recycling is ideal wherever the space can accommodate that. After all, people already have the habit of going there. However, waiting till years 4 ~ 5 to reconfigure the transfer stations is too long. That needs to happen sooner because reconfiguration is part of promotion and re- education. If this is a matter of cost, perhaps reconfiguration can be done in two stages: something basic in year 1 or 2, something more comprehensive in year 3 or 4. ~annina yard trimmings nt transfer stations in dear 1 YE51 Every time I go to our local transfer station (Hawi, ~lorth Kohala), someone is dumping green waste, sometimes a small amount, other times a whole pickup load. Removing green wastes from the regular garbage stream, ushers they never belonged in the first place, is essential, not only to significantly reduce the total tonnage going into the landfill but also to replenish the'nina avith the nutrients held in plant material and the structural and water-holding properties of woody debris. Much of our island still needs to build soil. again, where space is adequate, a green waste disposal area should be created nt the existing transfer station. People also should be encouraged to compost both kitchen avostes and yard trimmings on their oven property (this takes only a small area), or to make arrangements with friends or neighbors who have more land (less likely to occur, but still a pleasing idea). basic instructions about composting in the form of a short illustrated pamphlet, including contact information for the Dept. of Environmental Management and/or recommended websites for those with Internet access, avould be highly beneficial. People don't have the time or motivation to come to meetings. Tncreasina the budget for romotion and education on an onaoina basis Education is the key, and here I think the schools could be immensely helpful and should be involved, beginning in kindergarten, ashen children are forming not only habits but their views about the world. l'he concepts of sustainability, walking lightly on the Earth, valuing resources, malama'air~a (n core value of the host culture), and so on could be built into a variety of classroom programs and curricula. In the best of all worlds, this would be required by the State D®E. >als children grow older, they could be involved in recycling projects at school; when they're high school age, they could initiate projects in the come unity and get credit toa~rards graduation. Hopefully they would also take this mindset home to their parents, for whom recycling might be unfamiliar or too 'inconvenient." Irealize the preceding goes beyond your current addendum, but it seems a good time to plant this seed. I noticed an interesting phenomenon in ®regon. ~s a recycler, T remained in the minority until the disposal company in my community began a curbside recycling program. ~s part of this program, an incentive perhaps, they handed out red plastic containers for home use (for separating recyclables). Recycling suddenly became trendy. Red containers in front of one's house on garbage pickup day became a kind of status symbol for being socially responsible. Z realize half the island population . carts garbage to transfer stations and doesn't have curbside pickup, but maybe a similar phenomenon could be triggered at the transfer station as well. Seeing some of your friends and neighbors recycling at the transfer station makes it more "the thing to do." Communicating about the new plan and about new ways of thinking about wastes I hope the County will prepare a circular to be mailed to every household about the new requirements and the benefits of recycling something short and simple enough that people will read it, but thorough enough to communicate the basics, including practical suggestions for setting up recycling at home. I realize that changes at the transfer stations will begin to deliver the message, but some people will choose to view this as optional no matter how many signs are posted and newspaper articles written. Circulars can be ignored too, of course. (See later, on compliance.) Emphasizing that recycling is something old, not new ®the ancient I~awaiinns were expert recyclers ~ might also be important. In our multicultural island tapestry, cultural and ethnic components might work both for and against "new" approaches to solid waste management. Enhancin I~ocnl markets far recyclable materials I'd like to see the County look for ways to assist residents interested in creating a livelihood from some aspect of recycling. For example, in talorth Kohala, a young Tongan man, Ika Vea Jr., has wanted to start up a green waste/wood chipping small business. Ide's been investigating collaborating with Flew Moon Foundation (goad Estate) for financial backing; my understanding is that Blew ~Aoon would buy the chipper and donate the land upon which Tka could begin operating. I don't know further details. Ika also spoke nt one time about doing this through the schools or on school property; I dont know the viability of such a plan, but the visibility and educational potential would be wonderful. Perhaps the County could assist such individuals through low-interest loans, tax breaks, informational resource sharing/mentoring (including collaborations such as Ika is pursuing); it's to everyone's benefit. I'd also like to see the County encourage residents to be creative (within the law, of course) and participatory. As an example: In our household, because we re currently able to recycle only white office paper {we take it to Kona), my husband has been experimenting Stith composting junk mail. Like everyone else, we get piles of it. Resources have already been wasted to produce it; to just throw it away seems like adding insult to injury. He's created a system that works for us ~ it makes wonderful soil ®but it's too labor intensive for most people to bother with. Perhaps, however, there's a way to take his idea and commercialize it on a small scale, offering it as an alternative to standard paper recycling (I assume II soon be able to recycle paper types other than white office ~ or will we?). Ire's not looking to go into the recycling business, but his idea and experience might benefit someone else who is. Ensurinca compliance with the new recycl,~ inc~,re ulc~ ations Compliance will almost certainly be n problem, at least for a while. Even if the County places a monitor at each transfer station, there's no way to know what's in every bag of garbage tossed into the station containers, and searching is impractical. If some kind of monitoring is established, I would recommend a warning on the first offense and thereafter a modest fine. The idea is to encourage, educate, and re- trainpeople, not penalize then. I would rather see incentives to comply, accompanied by the underlying rationale. 3~ahalo for your time and consideration. Information and opinions expressed in viewpoint articles are the responsibility of the author and do not necesssirily reflect the positfon of the News or its staf j`. Vewpoint articles, up to 300 words, array be subanftted by any Kohala resident; they must be relevant and specific to Kohata, and include the author `s rrarrre, address, and telephone number: ~cycli~ ve®ne's ule~n~ I'ttt increasingly con- egg shells, coffee grounds, and the like. We keep earned about recycling--or ours under the kitchen sink so it's a convenient, the lack of it-in ledorth Ko- habitual dart of cooking and cleaning up. When hale. Recycling ss an an- the container is full, bury the contents an an out- dent activity whose side compost bin (small soil enclosure): garbage + ' impleanentation in soil m ahigh-quality garden amendanent, today's world is ur- * I~ettarra "green ~araste" to the 'sine: file and dent, es ecially on an mulch garden trimmings somewhere in your ssland largely coin- yard. Or arrange with a neighbor who has more posed of rock. land to accommodate lamer debris there. Don't dut doing st is not a big deal. It doesn't re- haul it to the transfer stetson. Green wastes take quire special outlays of time or money. ~iere's up valuable landfilfl space, and their nutrient pay- what we doaand what you can do now: load is squandered. * het app a®aavenieaat recycling at h®me: Find Rec~cTutg is everyone's kuleana, especially as our a spot to store cardboard boxes (free) for white island s populatson,ancreases. We can't afford to paper, newspaper, corrugated cardboard, glass, bury our heads as doe bury our garbage. and alumanuan (soda cans, foil, pie tins, etc.). Carol ferry What's recyclable is xrtarket driven; unfortunately Ka a'au 1r€I 96755 we can't recycle plastics p or "tin carts" like soup cans at this tiyne. Repro- gram to place items Caere, not in the trash headed for the transfer stetson. * Vote along recy- clin iteatts when going to ®raa: f°Iow many banes a month do you go to Kona-to Costco or Kmart? Por ap~oint- ments or visiting. Add one Ynore stop to your list and take your filled boxes. to Kona I?1laste Management in the old iiadustrial area (end of Pawai Pl., a side street off I~aiwi St.). 'I°he yard, with open busisaess hours on weekdays, contains labeled bins and duanpsters. Deposit whatever you're got and be on your way. Just takes a minute. Check the Yellow Pages for other recycling centers. * Coarapost kitchen wastes: liuy a one- or two-gaIlon plastic con- tainer with lid (small purchase} and collect i , ~ veggie and fruit wastes, -2! Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Wednesday, August 28, 2002 ~~1171~e~ b~/p~S~ ~ landfill through Kawaihae or Waikoloa. Boy will Several years back after the demise of sugar, ' Waikoloa love that. plans,to utilize the acreage was the planting of Subject Waimea bypass road ha! That's fast growing wood. It was proposed the use of not going to happen, I've lived on this island for this timber could be for lumber, furniture, tools, 30 years and that bypass is not one inch closer pulp, etc. Harvest time is approximately 7 years to being a reality. of which this time frame is getting near. This My point: Send all those logging trucks to material will be trucked from Hamakua coast, Hilo harbor and find a place in your own back up hill to Waimea, then down hill to Kawaihae Yazd for your waste! 24 hours a day. Albert Shepherd Now the hot topic is what to do with Hilo's Kamuela waste. Seems they can't find a place on the east side so let's truck it to the west side. Trucks again going up hill either via Saddle Road or Waimea and then down hill to the west side Page 1 of 1 To Barbara Bell: This is Ed Johnston. I spoke very briefly at the Environmental Management meeting last August 21. I own a small farm in Pepe'ekeo, makai. I am not certain that the committee understood my testimony that day. My point was that regardless of what technology is decided upon (to deal with waste), the idea of incineration in Pepe'ekeo is not acceptable. Only part of the reason for this is the dramatic increase in truck traffic it would generate. The best solution is to deal with the waste in the location where it has been building up for decades. I understand that, regardless, there will be some increased truck traffic due to whatever technology is decided upon. But, if the bulk of the waste is dealt with at the site of the greatest amount of the waste (in east Hawai'i), then the truck traffic through bay front, to Hilo Coast will be considerably less than moving all the material via Highway 19. AUG ~ r; :r; file://C:IWINDOWS\TEMP\ATTOOOOO.html 8/28/02 0S/27,120F12 02:29 S0^o3b51319 STEEL ERECTORS IIJC F~uE 01 A z~, zooz AUG ~ 7 2001 'To' Solid Waste A,ds~isory (SYJAC) da }gip[. of Environn~l ~.a~ee[aeeat 2S Aupa~tai S[., Room 2(aS liila, I-II 9b720-232 IFA?C: 961-$€DS6 Alot~ 23arls~ ~ SDsaxroaa, Fie forareaff+d these wxnasec~ats to flee SW.4C/Consultaetts. I ~1ald tike t® r®co[taam~ed the following ioclaasaoa>s for your con$idsratioa in the J Solid waste I~taeage~nt Plsa9 (ISVVI~[P) far [he Cota~ty ~ Iiawaii. I) 'I'lne~ts._.'o~ of soled wa~c ~taoaus ~ccoadic?g [a Stye Law. It was brought [o a[ty attea~ta®u a[ the ptablic heaa~~ogs that aerobic ~ ~ should be itztclae~d is over res:oruer[aea[dataon of olstions, 2) A long texxts mvaste snarsagene~[t prc>graan for flee entire islaa[d, inclualing reduce, reust a~ reCyCling 3) ire sp®cific data about ~r c~aita i[ecx~ases (i.e. population ice, busass increase) 4) Re~rcli ®[a Fede~l I~nogra~s, ems. that ~y be a potential. source of fue~dir?g t®warris [l?e ISWNIT?. M2~lo, Lteam~ Jones Y?MC