HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0942.161 2006-2008
Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii
P.0. Box 25284 - Honolulu • Howai`i - 96£125
(808) 393 2168 • beach_oKgCajahoo.rom
DATE: April 22, 2008
TO: Council Chairman Pete Hoffman & Council Members
Hawaii County Council
FROM: Suzanne Frazer, co-chair, Beach Environmental
Awareness Campaign Hawaii
Ref: Bill 224 TESTIMONY IN STRONG SUPPORT OF COUNCIL OVERRIDE
Relating To Smoking In Certain Places In The County Of Hawaii
Council Hearing on Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Good morning Chair Hoffman and members of the Hawaii County Council. My name
is Suzanne Frazer, and I am one of the co-chairs of the Beach Environmental Awareness
Campaign Hawaii. Thank you for this opportunity to once again testify on behalf of the
Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii, in strong support of Bill 224.
Firstly I would like to commend you for your actions at the last hearing when you passed
Bill 224 in it's original form. On this Earth Day, I urge you to once again take a strong
stance for protecting the environment as well as the health of the people of Hawaii by
overriding the Mayor's veto of this bill.
Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world with over 4.5 trillion butts littered
annually and they are the most littered item by beach users in Hawaii. In 2006, there
were 63,645 butts collected in one day during the "Get the Drift and Bag It" Hawaii-wide
clean-up.
Cigarette butts seriously reduce the aesthetic quality of the environment. Beaches with
cigarette butt litter look trashed and uncared for which causes more littering of other rub-
bish items. Tourists and residents alike appreciate clean beaches. However, it's very difficult
to keep beaches and the water clear of cigarette butts. Many people who would not litter
other items, discard their butts readily because they don't regard butts as litter and there is
also a belief that the County will pick up after them. Behavioural studies have shown that
if a smoker is not within 10 feet of a rubbish can when they finish a cigarette, they will lit-
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Beach Gnnironrnevtal.dreareaess Campaign lhna i`i is a non profit, nolunuo orgaw_atina concerned icalt bringing amnrenes
and solutioru to marine debris and later on Ilr wai `i's beaches though edacalwn, liner prenen6t)n and b n114&
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Ref. t;a:s. APR 22 2Q8R
Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii
P. O. Box 2.i284 • Honolulu • Haruai`i - 96825
(808) 393 2168 - heach_oigayahoo.cmn
ter the butt. As cans could not be placed every 10 feet, the best way to keep beaches and parks
clear of cigarette trash is to ban smoking there as has been done successfully at Hanauma Bay
and Kahalu'u Beach Park.
However, the harm to the environment is not just aesthetic. Cigarette butts can harm and kill
marine life, birds, and young children if ingested. Butts in the environment are mistaken for
food by marine life. They have been found in the stomachs of fish, whales, birds and other ma-
rine animals which leads to ingestion of hazardous chemicals, digestive blockages and death.
Once butts are littered they can persist in the environment because cigarette filters are made of
cellulose acetate, which is a form of plastic and does not biodegrade. Chemicals such as lead
and arsenic leach out from the cigarette filter and into the marine environment within an hour
of contact with water. Also, when a butt is dropped it can smolder up to three hours. Cigarette
smoke contains up to 4000 chemicals so each second the butt is left alight, dangerous toxins are
released into the environment.
Your leadership is needed to help protect us and the environment from the harm of cigarette
butts and smoke and we strongly encourage you to override the Mayor Kim's veto and make Bill
224 a law.
Mahalo for allowing me this opportunity to testify before you here today.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Frazer
B.E.A.C.if.
Beach ],,nvirornnzeulal fize-arerte.ss Campaign Hareai `i is a non-p%jii, volunteer organi;,atum ronrerued raids bunging aivarraecs
acid sohdirnAs to noonne debris and titter on Hmeai `i'.s hearhes though eduratiao, litter prevention and beach clean-ups
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