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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0107.027 2016-2018 CADUNinl— C )IVUt4. 101 Murashige, Laura > Doorae Shin <doorae@kokuahawaiifoundation.or From: 9 Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2017 11:14 AM To: Council Testimony Cc: Kanuha, Dru; Chung,Aaron; David, Maile; Eoff, Karen; Lee Loy, Sue;Ohara, Eileen; Ruggles,Jennifer; Richards,Tim; Poindexter, Valerie; COH Mayor;Toguchi, Marcie Subject: Re: Support for Bill #13 COUNTY CLERK COUNTY OF HAWAII'I RECEIVED din, Time fJ,3014714 By Aloha, Date L/ it/ In light of your hearing tomorrow on Bill 13, I am writing in wholehearted support of Bill #13. We work with keiki every day in our organization, and they are shocked and heartbroken that single-use plastics last for hundreds of years in the environment and harm, injure & kill animals through ingestion, starvation, entanglement and exposure to toxic chemicals. Even with proper waste management, polystyrene foam poses a great risk because it is extremely lightweight and made of over 90% of air, easily blowing out of dumpsters and trash cans and into waterways and eventually flowing into the ocean. Of all the 7 types of plastic we commonly use, Polystrene (Plastic#6) is recognized as the most toxic form of plastic, particularly due to its main component styrene, which is a confirmed carcinogen and a disruptor to human reproductive, neurological, and respiratory systems. See here for details on the human health impacts of styrene: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/styrene/index.cfm There are over 100 restaurants on the Big Island that are already foam-free with no financial hardship as a result. Most of these are small, locally owned businesses that are running successful businesses. Alternatives to foam are often comparable in price. Paper products for example are nearly the same price, and do not pose the level of environmental and health risks that foam does. There is an alternative for every single foam product, making foam an unnecessary option that we can easily move away from. My original testimony is below with more details. Mahalo nui loa for hearing this bill. This is one of those rare issues where nearly all of the public agree upon. We consistently see that the only opposition to these bills are lobbyists that produce foam or distribute foam. It is time we prioritize our `aina and the greater good over temporary business interests. Our communities, our keiki, and our beautiful environment here are worth it. Mahalo, Doorae g Doorae Shin Plastic Free Hawaii Program Manager Kokua Hawaii Foundation it'.-1 ll PO Box 866, Hale iwa, HI 96712 m, too. (808) 492-3954 (mobile) Ref. To: Ref. DoteMAR doorae@kokuahawaiifoundation.org www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org Are you a member?www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org/membership Become a volunteer: volunteer@kokuahawaiifoundation.org "The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."- Socrates On Tue, Feb 21, 2017 at 9:27 AM, Doorae Shin<doorae@kokuahawaiifoundation.org>wrote: Aloha, My name is Doorae Shin, and I am testifying in full support of Bill #13 on behalf of the Kokua.Hawaii Foundation. At our most recent beach cleanup on MLK Day, we picked up 7,000 lbs. of marine debris off of Kahuku beach. This is just from an hour and a half of cleaning. A large portion of what we find at beach cleanups is EPS Foam (aka styrofoam). UH Manoa Foam Free Since 2013 I first became aware of plastic pollution when I was a student at UH Manoa. I moved here 7 years ago to go to UH, and I fell in love with nature. I was truly in awe at the beauty of this place, and I was humbled by my newfound connection to the mountains, the ocean, and all the life that makes Hawaii the paradise that it is. But in my first years on the island, I noticed so much trash and plastic flying around and littered in the places I love, and Styrofoam was a big offender. I organized a campaign at UH Manoa to ban EPS foam, and in April of 2013, the administration passed an official policy banning food vendors from using EPS foam. In the transition period where restaurants switched to alternatives, there was never a single complaint of economic hardship or dissatisfaction about the policy. All of UH's food establishments, ranging from small food trucks to larger businesses, made a smooth transition, and UH has been a foam-free campus ever since. There have been zero complaints from businesses and customers about the foam ban at UH } Manoa.A copy of the policy can be found here: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/policies/pdfs/SustainableFoodServiceProducts.pdf Marine Debris 80% of all marine debris is land-based, meaning it comes from consumers like ourselves that use plastic in our day-to-day lives. Global data from the Ocean Conservancy reveals that 9 out of the 10 top items found on our beaches are food and beverage related plastics (the only one that is not is cigarette butts), so reducing single-use plastics from foodservice is the lowest hanging fruit to mitigate the plastic pollution crisis facing our oceans. Impact on Wildlife &the Food Chain = Most of the plastic we pick up has fish bites all over it. We know from the research of scientists around the world that millions of sea and land animals suffer injuries or death from the ingestion of or entanglement in plastic. Our overconsumption of plastic is causing unnecessary harm to nature and wildlife, and this bill is an important step in reducing that suffering. Not to mention that the harmful chemicals in plastics accumulate up the food chain, meaning that people eating fish & seafood receive concentrated doses of these chemicals in their bodies. It's Unnecessary &There Are Alternatives The key point here is that our use of styrofoam in foodservice is unnecessary. Single-use plastics, like the foam containers, cups, & plates used at local restaurants, are made from petroleum and are designed for one use. To design a product to be used for less than 30 minutes that we know will last hundreds of years in the environment is irresponsible and irrational. 2 There are ever-increasing alternatives to these products that offer the same shapes, sizes, function & quality that foam does without any of the consequences. All major distributors of EPS foam also distribute eco- friendly alternatives, so distributors would not lose any business. Jobs & Employee Health And though we should be aware of a loss of a small number of jobs at KYD (local foam producer), we should be equally aware that these are hazardous jobs. In producing polystyrene foam products, KYD exposes their employees to harmful chemicals like styrene, which is categorized as an animal carcinogen and a suspected human carcinogen (National Institute of Health's 2011 Report on Carcinogens). Another National Institute of Health study found "An excess of spontaneous abortions ... in women whose work included the processing of polystyrene."These are just some of the warnings heeded by scientists that have studied these and many more health effects from exposure to styrene. So any jobs lost from slowing down foam production will in fact be a blessing to the health and safety of those employees, and with an economic shift towards eco-friendly products, we can easily replace those jobs with ones of a non-toxic nature, perhaps by instead producing disposable foodservice ware made from plant materials, which supports local farmers on top of creating a healthier workplace for local employees. Mahalo With the reality that the use of EPS foam in restaurants is unnecessary and that alternatives are abundant, I hope you support Bill #13 so our local restaurants can use products that do not pose a threat to our environment, to wildlife, to. our food chain, or to the health of our local workers and consumers. The convenience of EPS foam does not outweigh the consequence, and we can now find the same conveniences in more sustainable alternatives. Mahalo nui loa for your time & consideration. Doorae Shin Plastic Free Hawaii Program Manager Kokua Hawaii Foundation PO Box 866, Hale`iwa, HI 96712 (808) 492-3954 (mobile) doorae@kokuahawaiifoundation.org www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org Are you a member?www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org/membership Become a volunteer: volunteer@kokuahawaiifoundation.org "The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."- Socrates 3