HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.065 2010-2012 Page 1 of 1
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Murashige, Laura
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From: Donna R. Goodale [donna @goodale.org] 3 1 f l-
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Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 6:57 PM Ir
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: FW: John Meriwether Hulen, Age: 12, Grade: 7th, P.O: 39- 0219KeahouHl961�O.., CiN: Kailua Kona, Staiba:
Hawaii
From: John Hulen [mailto :john.m.hulen @gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 20119:21 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: dgoodale @hualalai.org
Subject: John Meriwether Hulen, Age: 12, Grade: 7th, P.O: 39- 0219KeahouHI96739, City: Kailua Kona, State: Hawaii
John Hulen
Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are pointless to the world. Well mostly shopping plastic bags are pointless because people just throw
them out. But where do they go after we throw them out? Well I'll tell you, they just blow around the world. They
kill everything in their path. So there you have it we should ban plastic bags and start using cloth bags.
The death of all animals.
Every time we throw away a plastic bag it increases the chance of a sea mammal or sea bird dying. This
happens because approximately 1 million sea birds and mammals die each year from ingesting plastic bags. Also
when an animal is tangled in a plastic bag it can suffocate because it doesn't know what plastic bags are. Also
sharp teeth and claws can tear small fragments that easily lodge inside an animal's throat or stomach. An
obstructed digestive tract can cause pain or death. Finally About 100,000 animals such as dolphins, turtles whales,
penguins are killed every year due to plastic bags. Many animals ingest plastic bags, mistaking them for food, and
therefore die. And worse, the ingested plastic bag remains intact even after the death and decomposition of the
animal. Thus, it lies around in the landscape where another victim may ingest it.
Litter in the ocean.
If we don't stop ocean litter we will soon be swimming in a vast ocean of plastic and trash. Ocean litter is 60-
80% plastics. 80% of this is land -based plastic. Ocean litter is known to have affected at least 267 species
worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species and 43% of all marine mammal
species.
Destroying the environment.
We have to ban plastic shopping bags now before its too late, before everywhere we look there is going to be
mountains of trash. Once they are used, most plastic bags go into landfill, or rubbish tips. Each year more and
more plastic bags are ending up littering the environment. Once they become litter, plastic bags find their way into
our waterways, parks, beaches, and streets. And, if they are burned, they infuse the air with toxic fumes.
Finally I think that we should go through the Plastic Shopping Bag Reduction because it will be a really good
choice for out state and help a lot more animals that we think. If we eventually get the whole world to ban or even
reduce plastic shopping bags it will do a lot of things for our world and us.
-- This message has been checked by ESVA and is believed to be clean.
Comm. No.
Ref. To: t_0*f*.
Ref. Date FEB 16 lI
2/15/2011