HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0107.111 2016-2018 Murashige, Laura
From: Doorae Shin <doorae@kokuahawaiifoundation.org> COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAII I
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 9:28 AM RECEIVED
To: Council Testimony
Time 10:15
Date-7=77'701
Subject: Support for Bill #13 i..
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 inour
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.
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.
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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 SB1109 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.
111
Doorae Shin
Plastic Free Hawaii Program Manager
Kokua Hawaii Foundation
PO Box 866, Haleiwa, HI 96712
(808) 492-3954 (mobile)
doorae®kokuahawaiifoundation.org
www.kokuahawaiifoundation.orc
Are you a member?www.kokuahawalifoundation.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
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