 Aloha, and welcome back to Think Tech Hawaii's Ruderman Roundtable. I'm Senator Russell Ruderman from the Puna District on the Big Island. And I'm here hosting, we host a series of discussions on environmental and good government issues. My guest today is Stuart Coleman. Thank you for joining us, Stuart. My pleasure. Stuart's the Hawaii manager of the Surfrider Foundation, an author of Eddie Would Go, Fierce Heart, and his new book, Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero. His books have won the Katie's Award for Literature and several writing fellowships. Originally from Charleston, North Carolina, Stuart has lived in Hawaii for over 20 years and taught at Pune Ho and Iolani Schools, the University of Hawaii, Minoa, and East West Center. The Surfrider Foundation is a national and island leader in coastal protection, policy education, water quality, low impact development, and community empowerment. So Surfrider, to me, is one of the environmental organizations that protects our oceans and our beaches and our shores. Thank you for the work. Yeah, thank you. It's a pleasure. Before we get started, I think you're the first author I've had on this show. And I'm very, very impressed. You've given me a copy of your book, Eddie Would Go, and your new book, Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero. Will you tell me a little bit about the books? Yeah. When I first moved here, I got a job teaching at Pune Ho, and it just seemed everything pointed to Eddie Aikau. This teacher, Marianne Lyman-Mercerow, was working on an article about Eddie, and she had been on the Hokulea with Eddie, one of the last people to see him. She told me this story, and she's like, do you think there's a story there enough for an article? And I'm thinking to myself, this is one of the greatest stories I've ever heard. But I thought, oh, I can't tell this story. I just arrived here. Years went by, and some of the elders who were involved with voyaging started to get older and pass on. And I'm like, someone has to write this book. So I became friends with the Aikau family, and the extended Ohana, Surfer's Lifeguards and Sailors. And just one thing led to another, and finally, after four years, I produced Eddie Would Go. Oh, good for you. It's great. I love when people write books. Yeah. It's so great. Well, I'll start. I'm trying to get people back into reading. So tell me about Surfrider Foundation's work in Hawaii and across the country. Yeah. Yeah, we have a Surfrider Foundation to celebrate its 30th anniversary a couple of years ago. And we have about 85 to 90 chapters across the country, and we have five chapters in Hawaii. Really? Yeah. So we have one for Oahu, one for Maui, one for Kauai, and then two on the Big Island in Hilo and Kona. And basically we are dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of the world's ocean, waves, and beaches. And we do that through what I call care, conservation, activism, research, and education. And our biggest issues are kind of water quality and beach access and then plastic pollution. Yeah. What about some of the unique issues when it comes to Surfrider's issue, especially as it relates to Hawaii? Yeah. Hawaii is the birthplace of surfing. And so it was very important to be represented out here and to have a presence because there's just so much pressure to develop our coastlines. And so kind of following what John Kelly started with Save Our Surfrider Foundation is representing, and our goal is 100% coverage of all our beaches and protection. And it's done through this extended activist network, and so it really is a grassroots organization, people who are just passionate about protecting their coastal areas and making sure that there's access and that the water's clean and that the beaches aren't polluted. So we do a lot of beach cleanups. And for Hawaii, I think some of the particular issues are we have the highest number of cess pools in the country. And so that was one of the campaigns that we launched a couple of years ago. We were at the Capitol pushing for bills and appreciate support like you and many other senators gave. And we were able to pass a bill that gives tax breaks for homeowners to convert. Yeah. So it was a cesspool to a septic system. Exactly. So, you know, cesspools are just basically a hole in the ground. And so this gives them money to, you know, qualifying houses that are within 200 feet of a body of water to upgrade their system so it doesn't leech out. Because believe it or not, in some of the most pristine areas in Kauai, you think the one least developed island, it's, you know, some of these streams and beach areas are 100% chronically polluted. It's just amazing. And we were astounded because there's such beautiful islands, but there's so many cesspools, you know, that are built right near the stream. And if it's a heavy rain event, it just goes right into the stream and not to the ocean. Yeah. So we've been working with the Department of Health and their Clean Water Branch to post-warning signs and also to just do better public notification. So people are going to the beach know that, you know, after a major rain, you never go out within 24 to 48 hours, depending on how serious the rains are, especially that first flush. If it hasn't rained in a while. And that's what we call the brownwater advisories? Yes. And why is it, why is it important not to go out when that happens? Because there are so many different pathogens in the water, you know, just like from the cesspools, but then there's, you know, the waste from animals, domestic and feral, you know, feral cats are a huge issue because they cause a disease called toxoplasmosis, which is really harmful to the monk seals. And so, yeah, and then we have, the monk seals are one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, only 1,100 left. And so we have one of the highest feral cat populations as well, which was astounding to learn. So the toxoplasmosis survives from the cat into its, you know, pieces into it, the stream into the ocean? Yeah. Really? Yeah. The pesticides, all the oil, the gas leakage, everything in the streets, basically, just gets, goes to the storm drains and directly into the ocean. Yeah. So we really caution people not to go in the water after a major rain event. You know, at the recent conservation conference, I attended a workshop about coral bleaching and carols being threatened in general. I think that runoff such as this is one of the stressors on our carols, right? Exactly. And there's a bill that Senator Sparrow and others are putting forth for Oxy-Benzone, you know, that the stuff in sunscreen, the chemical sunscreen, which has proved to be really, really toxic for the reefs. And it helps with, you know, aids in coral bleaching. And carols are the kind of, we call them the rainforest of the ocean. And that they just, you know, they bring so much life and fish to the area. And without them, we'd be in trouble. So we're, you know, encouraging a ban on Oxy-Benzone. So recommending more zinc-based or mineral-based sunblocks over these sunscreens with Oxy-Benzone. And on that subject, has research shown that zinc and titanium-based sunscreens are relatively safe compared to the Oxy-Benzone ones? Yeah. There's still more research to be done. And, you know, we're not quite sure, but health lies, it's better. And for the health of the reefs, it's definitely better. It is. Yeah. So, I mean, it is more than just an environmental issue, it's a health issue. So we're trying to, again, it's just information and education, trying to get people aware, because we just want them to be healthy and our reefs to be healthy. Good. Yeah. What are some of the other big campaigns you've been involved in in Hawaii? Yeah. So others are, we have our Rise of a Plastics campaign. And so we worked and helped pass with a big coalition of groups, the county levels, the ban on plastic bags. And then at the state level, year and a half ago, we passed the Smoke Free Beaches and Parks Bill, which is great, because we do beach cleanups around the islands and every month. So we had a campaign, you know, that, you know, no butts on the beach, basically. And that was successful, right? Yeah. Yeah, pass statewide. And we were the first state to do so, and now other states are scrambling to do the same thing. So we've been a leader in many ways. We were the first state to ban plastic bags, county by county, and the first state to create a Smoke Free Beaches and Parks Bill, and we're doing some good stuff. So it's exciting. Well, you're giving me a lot of hope, because sometimes I think that nothing much changes. Exactly. You've actually achieved some very important successes that have made our world a better place. Yeah. Well, it's a group effort, you know, this is one of the things that I realized when I came into this position. I was like, okay, there's no way, you know, some of the environmental groups were fighting amongst each other, and I'm like, we'll never get anything done. We have to form a big coalition, and it's been effective, and it's great, because sometimes people, we were talking about this, think of environmental groups as being just a pain, you know, and they're trying to ban this and ban that, but we're just trying to make, you know, people healthier and create less litter and better, you know, environment for our kids and everyone to enjoy. So I know that one of the issues you've been working on, because it's been an issue on my island, the Big Island, is trying to dress Styrofoam, single use Styrofoam. To me, it's very similar to what we saw with the plastic bag man's, where the same sorts of people oppose it, and people come out and say, well, we can't possibly do that here, and people here aren't conscious enough to make that change, or it's too expensive for the businesses. Now, we saw, with the plastic bag change, that none of that was true. We have made the change. It's not, no businesses have went under, as a result, this guy didn't fall. Yeah. Do you think the Styrofoam push is an analogous to that? Is it going to be the same thing? Yeah, I think it's the exact same thing. It is funny, changing little habits can just seem so monumental to people. There's no way we can do it. I can't do it without Styrofoam. It's like, yet your parents and your grandparents going all the way back in history did fine without it, and so will we. We try to tell people that it's going to happen because it has to happen. Styrofoam is one of the most toxic, the least recycled forms of plastic ever made, and we see it on the beaches, it's one of the most littered forms of plastic. It floats so it looks like food, so all kinds of sea creatures from sea turtles to sea birds ingest it, and it gets stuck in their systems, and yeah, it's just, you know, it's a very toxic material, especially when there are compostable alternatives here, and every distributor across Hawaii has them, they're more expensive, but the more we do of these, the more we sell these, the less they'll cost, and if we can make them here, that's the goal, then we'll be truly sustainable. But also the other thing is, you know, just having reusable plates. Sometimes we, I think our parents really did know best, you know, we need to go back to, we have this throwaway culture that was invented in the 70s, and now we just don't even think we just throw away everything. I mean, cameras are disposable now, like who would have ever thought that? And it's almost this idea, this illusion that they're unlimited resources. We can continue doing this forever, and I think we're coming to the end of that consciousness where people are starting to realize, no, you can't just throw away everything. And it's funny because when people think about, oh, there's plenty of room on the earth to throw away stuff and use things up, I think the ocean is sort of the last frontier of that. The ocean can really absorb everything we can ever put in, and it's really not true. It's unlimited just like the land is, and stuff stays around and does damage. There was a study that was just published in Science Magazine and said, on current trends, the way the plastic production, and we're talking about single-use plastics, things we use for 15 minutes and then throw away in the elasticity of the environment, you know, for hundreds of years, that by 2050 there will be more plastic pollution in the ocean than fish by weight. It's almost, you can't even believe, you can't even believe like we have to stop this because the plastics are ending up on our dinner plates because the fish are eating them and all these plastics attract every pollutant in the water from PCBs, flame retardants, oils, everything because they don't like just free-floating, they have to cling to something and then the fish eat those things and they're 100,000 to a million times more toxic than the surrounding waters. They all gravitate, so it's like the fishing aggregate devices except they're teeny, teeny little things all throughout the ocean and they're very, very toxic and so that's a real cutting-edge form of field in science right now, studying those plastics and the chemicals that are getting in the fish and getting in our seafood. Are there some other areas in the world or around the country that have, you know, gone past Styrofoam and stopped using it? Yeah, France just announced that they will ban all, you know, plastic and Styrofoam disposable items by 2020, coming up very soon, so that's going to be a real, I think, milestone for a lot of nations to look because, you know, there are studies being done right now that show, you know, we spend, I mean, millions and millions of dollars just cleaning it up, just the Department of Transportation, you know, plastic bags on a Wahoo because there's that loophole in the law that allowed the thicker plastic bags which are even worse than the ones before, so we're working to close that loophole but plastic bags in Styrofoam, you know, are just everywhere and people have to clean this up and they don't realize that it actually costs millions of dollars, it clogs storm drains, causes floods and I gave a talk at the United Nations in Costa Rica about this issue and there was an issue that I didn't even think about that it's also a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and so they had Zika outbreaks in Costa Rica and so we have to be careful because we've had dengue on the bank island and so, you know, these are, plastics are the perfect breeding ground because they hold that water, you know, even on the side of the road or in a ditch or in a stream and that's where they love the perfect breeding ground. Let me interrupt you for a minute, Stuart. I'm here with Stuart Coleman of the Surfrider Foundation at the Ruderman Roundtable and we'll be right back after a short break. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii is my Mainland every Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. I also have a blog of the same name at kauilukas.com where you can see all of my past shows. Join me this Friday and every Friday at 3 p.m. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Josh Green. I serve as Senator from the Big Island on the Kona side and I'm also an emergency room physician. My program here on Think Tech is called Health Care in Hawaii. I'll have guests that should be interesting to you twice a month. We'll talk about issues that range from mental health care to drug addiction to our health care system and any challenges that we face here in Hawaii. We hope you'll join us. Again, thanks for supporting Think Tech. Hello, I'm Marianne Sasaki. Welcome to Think Tech Hawaii where some of the most interesting conversations in Honolulu go on. I have a show on Wednesdays from one to two called Life in the Law where we discuss legal issues, politics, governmental topics, and a whole host of issues. I hope you'll join me. Welcome back. I'm State Senator Russell Ruderman from the Kuna and Kaui District on the Big Island here at the Ruderman Roundtable on Think Tech, Hawaii. I'm here with Stuart Coleman of the Surfrider Foundation. He's the Hawaii manager of the Surfrider Foundation. As well as an author, we were talking about things that pollute the ocean and what can we do about it. Tell me, you have a new initiative, we were just talking about styrofoam and reducing waste. You have a new initiative, I think, called the Ocean Friendly Restaurants. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Sure. We had an existing program called Ocean Friendly Gardens where we're working with individual homes and businesses and even schools larger to stop runoff from going into just simple things you can do in your yard by creating bioswales and collecting rainwater and just these little things that can save so much water, get it recharged into the ground, recharge our aquifers for our water supply and then also reduce the amount of stormwater runoff, which is the number one source of pollution. That was so successful that we were thinking, we've been trying to reduce the amount of plastic pollution and people kept on saying, as you were saying, businesses can't afford this and they can't do this and it's this old argument that we were talking about, it's just not true. We formed another program called Ocean Friendly Restaurants and we're working with restaurants around the state to certify them as ocean friendly if they follow certain criteria that reduces their plastic pollution, their plastic footprint and also the amount of energy and water they use. We launched it at the end of Earth Month and by now we have almost 82 restaurants that we certified across the state and so it's just really taking off. That's great and full disclosure, I'm a little bit aware of this program because the business I own in the Big Island has received this award just in the last few days actually. We were very excited about it and we proudly display this sticker on the door and tell me how does a restaurant become ocean friendly qualified? What do they have to do? Yeah, well we have on our website oceanfriendlyrestaurantshawaii.org, we have a place where you can nominate restaurants once you see that they fulfill the criteria and the first mandatory criteria are that there's no styrofoam just because as I mentioned it's the least recycled and most toxic and most littered form of plastic and then reusable utensils on site, plates, cups and everything if you're going to dine inside just so that they have that and then third is proper recycling that they have proper recycle on there. So those are the mandatory ones and then we have other criteria such as no plastic bags for takeout and straws only upon request and it's funny because sometimes I think oh it's so small people think it's a little bit of a pain but those straws just refusing straws we go through 500 million straws every single day in the United States. 500 million so you think about that it's just it's massive and so just saying you know one of the restaurants is like you're a restaurant you have to serve your customers if they want to straw you get it to them but just let them request because most people can drink their water fine without a straw yeah so it's uh it's a great program the businesses love it the customers love it and you know environmental groups love it so it's really been this win-win situation and what we're you know hoping is to show that restaurants can do fine and stores like yours you know not only survive not having foam and going through these practices but they're thriving yeah yeah well to toot our own horn for a minute my my company's called I the Naturals we eliminated things like styrofoam from the very beginning more than 18 years ago and have adopted the compostable utensils and containers and we have thrived all along you know and the customers appreciated it doesn't have a it doesn't have a noticeable impact on the bottom line and it's the right thing to do yeah and people are attracted to it you know like but when I go to the big island before I knew you or anything and knew the you know the connection it was like oh yeah we have to go to that store because I know the food is good it's going to be you know mostly organic and they're not going to have all this plastic waste so you know especially for people who travel or people who are really conscious about where they eat and what they put in their bodies you know it's nice to have a list of these stores we list all the stores we have a facebook page also so if you're going out you can say yeah let's let's go in support with our money a place that you know we agree with their principles so let's look at the other side of that point for me let's say you go to restaurants that are using styrofoam so what can a customer do to encourage that restaurant to make that change and will this ocean friendly restaurant be a you know kind of a carrot that they can move for exactly and that's what you know we tell our volunteers who you know it's all volunteers going out and doing this is you know it's just about education so you know if they don't make it now we have a lot of restaurants they're like yeah I want to do this they're looking at the criteria and they think we're not there yet but I was like yeah just keep on trying you know and or maybe try it for a month you know switching over and see what your customers say and and so yeah we're just encouraging and trying to educate and it's nice to see those stores switch and then they say like yeah no I don't know what the problem was like we're actually getting more business people are happier about it well that would a great idea just try it for a month I mean that's not scary yeah because whatever it leaks here it costs too much we change our mind exactly and you have companies like you know sustainable island products and world-centric here you know that we're working with and we're trying to do a program where you know we can offer them you know for the same price for a you know a limited amount of time just so they can make that switch and yeah and see because if you've ever seen you know anything that comes in Styrofoam have you ever noticed that there's always like a bed of cabbage or wax paper on the bottom of like a clamshell yeah that's because they know and you know the absorbs the center yeah the yeah um you know all these federal reports have come out that it absorbs all the chemicals and so you know it's kind of protecting it so just for your own good for your own health if nothing else take a plate to the restaurant ask them to put it on a plate or in a Tupperware dish or something because you know I hate to say it and announce it on this program but 98 percent of us have styrene in our bodies you know the EPA has has done studies and so it's it's already in our systems so we don't need any more of it we need to get it out of our system have you heard any examples of restaurants being convinced to make this change by customer pressure yeah yeah I mean you know we've we're working with you know some restaurants right now I'm not gonna name them but you know that are really popular and people keep on asking them and uh so the requests matter they listen absolutely yeah and if you know if anybody can go to the website um ocean friendly restaurants hawaii.org and download the brochures download the information take it to your favorite restaurants hey I support you guys I want you you know I want you to do this because it's good for you it's good for your customers it's good for the environment and their health yeah wonderful yeah so it's been fun tell us I you we have a new water quality testing program on Oahu is that right yeah can you tell us a little bit about that yeah so we um we're uh working with the department of health for a long time um and we helped get their funding initially to do water quality testing from the EPA through the beach act um long time ago like 15 years ago and uh maybe a little less than that and uh it was very successful but then we just noticed that the numbers weren't getting out there the water quality testing results people didn't know about um and there were we were doing our own water quality testing through the blue water task force and especially in kawaii we noticed that there were just chronically polluted beaches and they were not posted and the law says they have to have signs you know these are very and some of them are very high like you would not want your kids to go anywhere near this water so we're talking about ocean water yeah ocean water and then the streams especially the streams that feed into it um in that area that kind of tidal area um is is you know some of them were really contaminated so you know that we got the EPA involved and now it's great we're working with the department of health and clean water branch to post warning signs and to do that kind of notification public notification just you know we're gonna try to get the lifeguards involved so like it's just one of their signs jellyfish strong currents you know undertow brownwater advisory warning don't go in you know there's there's a high level of pathogens in the water and so that's that's the the goal and i think we've really kind of long way it's been a kind of a national effort and a regional effort and local effort and really successful tell me before we uh before you finish do it how can someone get involved with surfwriter foundation our website is surfwriter.org and then um if you want to look up the particular chapter's websites you just put oahu.surfrider.org or kwai.surfrider.org or kona.surfrider.org or or hilo.surfrider.org and let's say someone like me who's sort of a non-surfer can anybody join absolutely that's probably the biggest misnomer about surfrider foundation we are not a bunch of surfers i'm a snorkeler we welcome snorkelers, spongers, stand-up paddlers yes and anybody who loves the ocean frankly like i'd say probably you know half um uh third to a half of our people don't surf actively yeah so it's just people are concerned about their coastal areas you know whether it's over development or i'm glad to be clear that i'm gonna have to join and become a member yeah i would love to have you thank you so much we've been here with steward colman the hawaii manager of surfwriter foundation here at the ruderman round table we're here on thick tech hawaii every other tuesday afternoon at two o'clock and available on the youtube channel thick tech hawaii thank you very much for joining us we'll be back in two weeks mahala