New Water Bottling Plant in Hilo Proposed

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

why can't I bottle and sell my catchment water?

Drill a well and call it Magma-Purified.
Your mascot could be a Menehune dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. With a mustache.

[Durian Fiend]

quote:

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Originally posted by kalakoa

Plastic bans would be more plausible if there were actual recycling.

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? If plastic isn't used, it doesn't need to be recycled.

I don't see what's "bunk" about banning plastic straws from commercial sales either, just because they don't comprise the majority of the Pacific garbage patch, or the estimate of their numbers being disposed of every year is quite inaccurate. They're still responsible for a lot of waste and pollution.

Single use plastics are not here to stay, I would hazard to say.

[snorkle]

My views;
Don't think of the plant as a water bottling plant, think of it as a plastic manufacturing plant. Is that what we need here?

Trying to figure out how it relates to importing plastic is pointless also. We don't have the technology implemented here to process discarded plastic either way; and utilizing it is the only viable solution to our critical solid waste problem.

My suggestion: Tax the sh!t out of it; I'm talking 25+ cents a bottle, and a tax on non biodegradable plastic packaging. Don't like another tax? That's the point. Reusable containers are popular for a reason, plus glass or stainless steel containers are healthier and don't leach toxins like throwaways. Use the money generated to implement a real recycling/processing program.

Business services Hawaii has a giant grinding machine that they use to process glass. They cannot process plastic also, but the county could. Any form of processing involves first grinding the plastic. Once ground, it could be used in asphalt/concrete by the ton. It's already being done in less sensitive environments than ours.

If you think that burying it or bundling it up and shipping it out is a solution you are delusional. If you think your convenience is more important than our environment, you're an azzhole.

Thank you Planning Commission for this small step. Time for the rest of the County to step up.

[Tink]

They should have bargained for a "you can take my water, but you have to take our recyclable plastic to make the bottles you want to use for export only". That's a good trade in my eyes.

Community begins with Aloha

[ElysianWort]

Completely agree with your views Snorkle.

"trendy" proposed bans on straws and or other plastics are a positive thing. Unless you are a plastic manufacturing company.

We humans have gone too far with plastic. Ignorantly thinking that we can just limitlessly produce it and start using it for everything while turning a blind eye to how it might affect us in the long run. It's hard to avoid nowadays. I'm touching right now as I type this.

[kalakoa]

My suggestion: Tax the sh!t out of it

Already happening. Can't return my single-use plastic water bottles unless I remove the cap from each and every single one, and I have several bags of them.

Solution: stainless steel water bottle, refilled from the County taps.

Side effects: less revenue for the retailer, less HI5 and GET for the State.

If plastic isn't used, it doesn't need to be recycled.

True, but at the same time, fighting the problem from multiple angles would increase the overall success. Instead, we import plastic (no manufacturing here) and then export it again (still no manufacturing here).

State's ban on single-use plastics is well-intentioned but unlikely to survive legal challenge, because interstate commerce = instant Federal pre-emption. (See also: the carve-out in the styrofoam ban.)

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by ElysianWort

The permit for the proposed bottling plant was denied.

This is wonderful news!

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I think it is sad.

Sad that our officials can't see the good and the bad and separate the two.. and move forward with something rather than back.

Yes. No need the plastic.

But at the same time... Yes, need the business.

I have no idea why anyone would be upset about taking some water from the aquifer. There's a lot of it.. remember, lotta rain, big island. We tap into it all over the place. Extract gazillions of gallons. Why not allow a company to take a bit. Sheesh, they could just as easily taken it out of a tap rather than drill their own well.

But still, I agree with no need the plastic and yes it should be out of our waste stream altogether soon enough. But say that..

Hey, you can have the permit.. go ahead and sell the water.. but you have to figure out a different kind of container..

But no, a bunch of folks, Big Island Vid calls them water protectors, made noise about what? Something sacred?

Never mind.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Solution: stainless steel water bottle, refilled from the County taps.

A long time ago, when I was young, public buildings and highly trafficked pedestrian walkways had these devices called “water fountains.” When you were thirsty a water fountain always seemed available. I don’t recall anyone carrying bottles of water around, or for God’s sake, paying money for water.

As far as I remember, instances of citizens dying from thirst were quite rare.

Side note, when I was eight years old my family traveled to the Carolinas, and down there they even had a choice of water available. Clear water, which was labeled “white,” and flavored (?) water with a sign over it that said “colored.” I never found out what flavor it was though, because no one would let me try it.

[kalakoa]

But at the same time... Yes, need the business.

Restore the original Resort zoning and build a hotel, because we have a tourism-based economy?

[glinda]

Restore the original Resort zoning and build a hotel, because we have a tourism-based economy?

A couple of problems with that.. I don't think Hilo has ever been able to compete with real tourists destinations.. sun and surf.. good golfing..

And then there is the arsenic..