A K LEO T H E
MONDAY, FEB. 11 to TUESDAY FEB. 11, 2013 VOLUME 108 ISSUE 53
V O I C E
www.kaleo.org
Serving the students of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Styrofoam
TheWaron
HEALTH
&
Wellness 5
Styrofoam takes more than one million years to completely break down and decompose.
food
FOR THOUGHT
CHASEN DAVIS KA LEO O HAWAI‘I
DAVID SMITH Contributing Writer
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students are taking action to prohibit unsustainable products on campus. Volunteers have collected about 1,000 signatures promoting the ban of Styrofoam, and they will have a table in front of Jamba Juice this month to add more names to their petition. This campaign is similar to the Surfrider Foundation movement to ban plastic bags, which began at UH before it went statewide. The Surfrider campaign culminated with legislation to make plastic bags illegal by 2015. The goal of this petition is to gather 3,000 signatures pledging against Styrofoam use and present
them to Chancellor Tom Apple. “You need to start small, communal, local; this is just a starting point,” said Surfrider Foundation member Matthias Keller, who is leading the campus petition. Jamba Juice, L&L Barbeque and Ba-Le use Styrofoam products, and the group hopes to force these locations to switch to more sustainable material. This idea fits into UH’s 2011-2015 strategic plan, which states the need for “Mānoa to prioritize environmental, cultural and economic sustainability so we can become an international leader in this area.”
W H Y S T Y RO F OA M? Keller explained that Styrofoam is the “opposite of sustainability.” It is made from petroleum,
which is “a finite resource,” and as a finished product, it is not recyclable or biodegradable. Styrofoam often reaches the ocean, where it “doesn’t decompose” and instead breaks down into smaller pieces that can be ingested by marine organisms. Keller said that perhaps the most immediate danger posed by Styrofoam is its potential for negative health impacts on humans. “Studies have shown that it is a negative carcinogen, and that in hot food substances, chemicals are leached out into the product,” Keller said. “It has also been known to damage female reproductive organs.”
I M PAC T O F P E T I T I O N Jamba Juice recently dealt with a similar petition this summer in San
GET ITob.ile
Download the app
m
Francisco when a 10-year-old girl, Mia Hansen, started one on change. org that asked Jamba Juice to replace their Styrofoam cups, receiving more than 130,000 signatures. Jamba Juice responded to this petition by saying that they “expect to phase out the use of polystyrene [Styrofoam] by the end of 2013,” according to thegreeneconomy.com. Ba-Le has made changes by replacing their Styrofoam bowls, with a cardboard plant-based product that is recyclable and renewable. Keller, along with other volunteers, will be collecting signatures in front of Jamba Juice at Campus us Center every Monday and Thurssday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. As of Feb. b. 4, the petition gains approximately ly 200 signatures each day.
Report
MONDAY N: W: S: E:
focusing 6/7
FITNESS
8 proper HYDRATION
10 -18+ f t. 6 -12+ f t. 0 -1.5 f t. 2- 5 f t.
a TUESDAY N: W: S: E:
8 -12++ f t. 5-10 f t. 0 -1.5 f t. 2- 5 f t.