HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 826 Draft 02 2006-2008COUNTY OF HAWAII
STATE OF HAWAII
RESOLUTION NO.. 826 08
(DRAFT 2)
A RESOLUTION URGING THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TO DEVELOP AN ORDINANCE ANll
IMPLEMENT A PLAN TO PROHIBIT FOOD, PAPER, AND COMPOSTABLE
ORGANICS FROM HAWAII COUNTY LANDFILLS BY 2012.
WHEREAS, landfilling food and paper is greatly contributing to global warming; and
WHEREAS, more than 100 tons of biodegradable materials, including paper products,
food scraps and yard trimmings, are landfilled in the County of Hawaii every day. These
materials amount to approximately half of our island's discarded resources, and when buried in a
landfill, they decompose without oxygen and generate methane, an efficient atmospheric heat-
trapping gas and a major factor in climate change; and
WHEREAS, methane is understood to be 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide
(C02) in causing climate changes over a 20-year period, the amount of time scientists have
determined is left before the planet reaches the "tipping point" on irreversible climate change.
Landfills are the number one source ofhuman-caused methane in the United States and emit the
greenhouse gas equivalent of 20 percent of our country's coal-fired power plants every year; and
WHEREAS, commercial farming and shortsighted land use policies favoring
energy-intensive pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation water have resulted in dramatic increases in
greenhouse gases discharged into the atmosphere for more than 50 years. These practices have
contributed to one-third of the increase in atmospheric C02, while causing erosion,
sedimentation, water pollution, and the progressive stripping of organic matter, beneficial
microbes, carbon, and other essential nutrients from our soils; and
WHEREAS, healthy soils are capable of holding twice the carbon stocks of plants.
Release of soil bound carbon through tilling, unsustainable and other short sighted farming
practices cause soils to contribute to, rather than protect against, global warming. "Chew
unsustainable methods also compromise the ability of using soil to grow food locally,
nutritiously, and sustainably; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii currently imports 90 percent of its food and urgently requires
the healthier soils that can be produced through diverting organic materials from the landfill and
returning the nutrients and organic matter back to farmland to grow its own. This is a critical
component of re-creating a more sustainable society on our island; and
WHEREAS, the quickest and cheapest way to immediately reduce our community's
greenhouse gas emissions and improve the health of soils on the island is to divert compostable
organics from our landfills; and
O
WHEREAS, this resolution is in keeping with' Resolution 356-07, Draft 2;
"EMBRACING AND ADOPTING THE PRINCIPLES OF ZERO WASTE AS A LONG TERM
GOAL FOR HAWAII COUNTY", adopted on December 19, 2007; and
WHEREAS, we agree to phase these materials out of our landfills by 2012, and ask
that Department of Environmental Management staff come back with a plan on how to best
accomplish this and how to work with local agencies to encourage the use of compostable
organics to sustain the health of our soils; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that
food, paper, and compostable organics shall be banned from Hawaii County landfills by 2012
and that the Department of Environmental Management is urged to develop a plan to accomplish
this policy and to present it to the Hawaii County Council within 6 months of passage of this
resolution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward a copy of this
tesolution to the Director of the Department of Environmental Management to develop a
strategic plan to achieve the goals in accordance with the terms of this resolution.
Dated at xnn a , Hawaii, this ~ ~,-~ day of January , 2009.
INTRODUCED BY:
COUNTY COUNCIL
County of Hawaii
Hilo, Hawaii
1 hereby certify that the foregoing RESOLUTION was by
the vote indicated [o the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of [he
County of Flawai`i on ,Tanuarv ?4, 2009
ATTEST:
l-
~~ rr
COUNTY CLERK CHAIRMAN & PRESIDING OFFICER
~~~~-
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII
ROLL CALL
AYF,S NOES ABS EX
FORD X
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HOFFMANN X
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JACOBSON g
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PILAGO X
YAGONG g
YOSHIMOTO X
9 0 0 0
Reference:
RESOLUTION
C-91.1/EMC - 21
82i~ ~8
(DRAFT 2)