The Kauai chapter of the Surfrider Foundation has declared Kilauea to be the first community on Kauai to be free of plastic foam.
Robert Zelkovsky, Surfrider Kauai’s publicity and membership coordinator, said that’s the reason the group chose Kilauea as the epicenter for the movement to rid Kauai of polystyrene foam entirely.
The organization took on the National Surfrider’s Rise Against Plastic campaign about three years ago. It was a landfill teeming with trash and roadways lined with litter that prompted members to take action.
Zelkovsky said they started with a survey of the restaurants on Kauai. At that time, 30 percent of the 270 restaurants questioned did not use polystyrene foam.
All of the restaurants in Kilauea are now polystyrene foam-free.
Polystyrene foam is a type of plastic product that is petroleum based, which means it comes from oil. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the substance is the fifth-highest source of hazardous waste in the world and it can take about 500 years to decompose.
Surfrider Kauai plans to place signs in Kilauea recognizing the town as Styrofoam-free as soon as the group gets permits for signage.