Bill Text: HI HCR220 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Department of Education; Sustainable Food Service Products; Composting Programs
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR220 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR220-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
220 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the department of education to convene a working group to develop recommendations for transitioning to sustainable food service products and expand composting programs at appropriate schools.
WHEREAS, many food service products are composed of plastics and expanded polystyrene foam that are not biodegradable or compostable and end up in our waste stream or as litter in our communities; and
WHEREAS, the State and counties are forced to spend taxpayer dollars to clean up non-biodegradable and non-compostable food service product litter every year; and
WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has adopted a goal of reducing the solid waste stream by seventy per cent prior to disposal in accordance with the Aloha+ Challenge; and
WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Manoa has established campus-wide policies to eliminate the use of plastic and polystyrene foam products in their food service products on campus; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Education could follow the sustainable model established by the University of Hawaii at Manoa and reduce its contribution to the waste stream and to litter by using compostable food service products; and
WHEREAS, several Department of Education schools are currently participating in successful composting and waste reduction programs, such as the ‘Aina in Schools Program and a pilot composting program at Pearl City High School that processed over 56,000 pounds of waste from Fall 2013-Fall 2014; and
WHEREAS, expanding composting programs while moving to use compostable food service products at Department of Education schools would eliminate or divert much of the waste produced by those schools, and could provide additional opportunities to eliminate food waste from the school’s cafeteria, green waste from custodial staff, and paper waste produced in classrooms and offices; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to convene a working group to develop recommendations for Department of Education schools to:
(1) Transition to alternative food service products from plastic and polystyrene products; and
(2) Expand or establish composting programs in schools, where appropriate; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Education or the Superintendent's designee is requested to serve as the chairperson of the working group and that the following individuals, or their designees, are invited to be members of the working group:
(1) The Vice President of Administration of the University of Hawaii;
(2) The Principal of Pearl City High School; and
(3) The Principal of Sunset Beach Elementary School; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Superintendent of Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Mayor of each county, the Chairperson of each county council, the Vice President of Administration of the University of Hawaii, the Principal of Pearl City High School, and the Principal of Sunset Beach Elementary School.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Department of Education; Sustainable Food Service Products; Composting Programs
