Hawaii Cesspool

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

How do we get to zero tourist waste?

Glad you asked.
It would start with commissioning a study…

I don’t know what % of waste is from tourism, but any reduction would have a major impact on improving our environment.  As much or more than local residents reducing waste.  But that said, reducing the number of cesspools is a good idea.  Devil is in the details

[AaronM]

It always starts with a study...

[MyManao]

How do we get to zero tourist waste? Do they have to take it back with them on the plane?

That's simple, have zero tourists. But of course that ain't going to happen. Meanwhile methinks..

Retailers that receive shipments of goods in containers should be required to use the empty containers to ship recyclable garbage, equal in kind (materials of like nature) to the goods they receive, back out of here.

Right now this model is being applied to electronics, and not the retailers but the manufactures. I think there's a bunch of bugs to work out yet, and some theorize we will lose access to electronics because of it, so we'll see.

From.. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/11/01...or-laptop/

..The law requires 49 manufacturers, from Apple to Samsung, to report how much product has been shipped in by weight and how they would set up systems to collect discarded devices and ship them to recycling locations.

There are none in Hawaii so all the products would have to be shipped out.

The law covers TVs, computers, tablets and printers, but exempts telephones, devices with screens smaller than 4 inches and those inside vehicles or appliances.

The ambitious recycling goals are measured in pounds.

In 2023, they must harvest half of the weight they shipped into Hawaii in 2021. For Samsung Electronics America alone, that would be 959,376 pounds. That goal raises to 60% in 2024 and 70% in 2025, which the industry said likely cannot be done. “So we think we’ll be OK next year,” said Alcon. “But it’s beyond that, where we’re looking at some serious compliance issues.”

[MarkP]

Proper septic systems and leach fields work fine in contrast to cesspools which are more like injection wells.

[kalianna]

Iʻm not sure how the tourists could cause more waste than residents. Tourists are mainly using hotel/resort/restaurant plumbing which I would assume and hope would be on septic. And theyʻre not here for long. I figure Iʻd cause as much waste in a year as twenty tourists.

[TomK]

I'm not sure where this thread is heading right now. I suspect a typical household sh*ts more waste, literally, than they consume in electronic equipment. I don't see beaches or their waters contaminated by unused laptops or printers, instead I see them contaminated by beer cans, plastic, and god knows what it is, and I won't pick it up to find out. I thought this thread was about cesspools, not whether we ship crap out of here. Tourists have very little to do with this other than bring in the money that allows people to live here and choose to use cesspools near the ocean.

[Chas]

The always excellent Civil Beat just came out with an article about cesspools:

https://www.civilbeat.org/?p=1574068&utm_source=Civil+Beat+Master+List&utm_campaign=c495c0c178-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_07_07_55&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c495c0c178-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=c495c0c178&mc_eid=bb753109d3

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

There's a lot of work that needs to be done, but there are areas where it would be simple to start without required mass cesspool replacement for homeowners.
Many tourists stay in vacation rentals or a b&b that have a cesspool, like in Puako:

“You’ve got a main road, and houses on either side of it,” Wiegner explained. “There are homes just feet away from the ocean and near tide pools.”


I'm not sure what percentage of tourists stay in places like that, but even if 5-10% it would be a start.

Data collection the past several years has shown that bacterial levels on the Puakō coastline, were higher than Hawai‘i Department of Health standards in recreational waters fronting 81% of residential homes sampled.
“If you went to the bathroom at high tide when you flush the toilet that sewage would be coming out to the shoreline at low tide,” said Steve Colbert, a UH-Hilo Marine Science Professor.

The research team, led by UH Hilo marine science professors Tracy Wiegner and Steve Colbert, also found that the bacterial levels were elevated regardless of the type of onsite sewage disposal system, cesspool, septic tank or aerobic treatment unit the home used.
“We really aren’t the most fun people to go to the beach with,” said Colbert. 

https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2021/...nt-needed/

[HiloJulie]

Tom is correct. This thread I originally posted was and is about cesspool issues in Hawaii. It included the link to the Civil Beat article. 

More problematic however is that this thread has more or less devolved into something that has nothing to do with the cesspool situation. 

And we wonder why nothing ever gets done.

[Durian Fiend]

..

Data collection the past several years has shown that bacterial levels on the Puakō coastline, were higher than Hawai‘i Department of Health standards in recreational waters fronting 81% of residential homes sampled.
“If you went to the bathroom at high tide when you flush the toilet that sewage would be coming out to the shoreline at low tide,” said Steve Colbert, a UH-Hilo Marine Science Professor.

The research team, led by UH Hilo marine science professors Tracy Wiegner and Steve Colbert, also found that the bacterial levels were elevated regardless of the type of onsite sewage disposal system, cesspool, septic tank or aerobic treatment unit the home used.
“We really aren’t the most fun people to go to the beach with,” said Colbert. 

https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2021/...nt-needed/

Believe it or not, I just discovered the Puako area a couple years ago. It seemed like a pretty cool, out of the way location on the west side.  

Shoot, doesn't sound so great now.   Thanks for the link.