Want to see less waste? Now is the time to speak up.
Every 10 years, each county is required to update their Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (ISWMP)—Honolulu’s update is happening now and it’s our time to weigh in! Public testimony is due August 27th!
““We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.””
On July 3, 2019, over 30 zero waste advocates showed up to provide oral feedback to the team writing the to re-shape this plan to build the waste-free future our community deserves—and our planet needs.
Here is what we want this plan set us up for:
Reduce waste instead of just creating different methods for us to throw things “away” (because there is no ʻaway’).
Reduce our reliance on H-POWER—burning trash does not create clean energy and produces toxic ash.
Composting! Why aren’t we doing this already!?
A full-time professional educator to work on waste reduction campaign for the City.
Stronger recycling programs.
Sounds like a run of the mill update, right? Sure, AND this is a HUGE opportunity for us to ask the county to think outside the box and create a waste-free for Honolulu.
This plan will set the direction and spirit of the County’s approach to waste for the next decade. This is the time to ask important questions like:
Should we plan to keep managing an endless flow of trash (which requires billions of dollars, lots of greenhouse gas emissions, water, and our precious ʻāina…the list goes on), or….
Should we plan to reduce the amount of trash we make in the first place, operating from a mālama i ka ʻāina mindset—which would benefit, well, everything!?
Let’s set ourselves up for success by ensuring the County Department of Environmental Services hears our call.