Now for the team of folks featured in this film:
Stuart Coleman
Stuart Coleman is an author, speaker and environmental leader. He is the author of three books, including the award-winning biography Eddie Would Go. After working as the Hawaii Manager of the Surfrider Foundation for ten years, Coleman became the Co-Founder and Executive Director of a new environmental non-profit called WAI: Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations
Doorae Shin
Doorae Shin is an environmental advocate in Hawaiʻi currently serving as the Oahu Chapter Coordinator for Surfrider Foundation. She previously worked with Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation as the Plastic Free Hawaiʻi Program Manager and as the University of Hawaiʻi's first ever Student Sustainability Coordinator. She has her B.A. in Sustainability Studies from UH Mānoa and focuses on the areas of plastic pollution, zero waste, ocean protection, and food sustainability. Doorae is also the Co-Founder of Good Food Movement, which connects people to the power of their food choice.
Dyson Chee
Dyson Chee is a 19 year-old youth activist living on the Hawaiian Island of Oʻahu. Since 2019, Dyson has been serving as the Advocacy Director for the Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition where he engages youth in civics and climate legislation. Dyson is currently at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Communicology, Economics, and Political Science. In his free time Dyson loves playing tennis, drinking boba tea, and hanging out at the beach.
Rafael Bergstrom
Rafael is the executive director of Sustainable Coastlines Hawai'i and the previous director of the Oahu Chapter of Surfrider. Rafael is an experienced leader working to build community, protect our natural resources, enliven our ability to take on meaningful change, and bring about a more equitable and empathetic future. He is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Photography, Event Planning, Customer Service, and Strategic Planning. Strong community and social services professional with a Master of Science (MS) focused in Natural Resources and Environmental Management from University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Jennifer Milholen
“You don't filter smokestacks or water. Instead, you put the filter in your head and design the problem out of existence.” This quote from William McDonough elegantly reminds us that waste is a failure of design and imagination, but also a satisfying opportunity to design better systems from the start. Jennifer Milholen lets this perspective guide her in her work and advocacy, particularly through zero waste initiatives. Jennifer has worked in various fields dedicated to conservation and regeneration for the last decade, including energy and water efficiency, policy drafting, organics diversion, waste audits, plastics reduction, and composting regulation reform. Jennifer works as a compost operation and permitting consultant in Hawaiʻi and is the Waste Reduction Coordinator and 3Rs program manager at the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation
Council Member Tommy Waters
Chair of the Public Health Committee, responsible for signing Bill 40 into law. As a life-long resident and dedicated public servant, with over thirty years of public service - as a member of the Neighborbood Board, public defender, Hawaii State Representative, and as a volunteer with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Ka Wai Nui Marsh Task Force. I took these roles seriously and worked hard to improve service these important institutions represent as well as to ensure that every dollar was spent wisely. I have the experience and commitment to make our community a better place to live, work, and play.
Council Member Joey Manahan
Introducer of Bill 40. Former Kalihi Councilman and state Legislator is now the government relations and public involvement director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. His new role will include tracking city and state legislation for the rail agency and preparing testimony.
Senator Chris Lee
Grateful to have been elected to fight for our community at the State Capitol, Chris has stood up to put the interests of local families first and help our next generation afford to live in Hawaii. Chris successfully organized local residents to stop a proposed landfill right in our community, blocked the commercial development of preservation lands, stopped mainland corporations from exploiting local residents, got millions in assistance for small businesses and local farmers, and tens of millions for local schools, health centers, affordable housing, and even brokered a public-private partnership to build a new dog park. Chris has worked hard to successfully bring opposing sides together, authoring and passing ground-breaking laws to lower our cost of living and create thousands of jobs in new industries like renewable energy. He passed laws making Hawaii a national leader on climate change, protecting civil rights, and building a diversified 21st century economy that leaves no one behind.
Senator Brian Schatz
Schatz served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1998 to 2006, representing the 25th legislative district, and was chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii from 2008 to 2010. He also worked as chief executive officer of Helping Hands Hawaii, an Oahu nonprofit social service agency, until he resigned to run for lieutenant governor of Hawaii in the 2010 gubernatorial election as Abercrombie's running mate.[1] He served as lieutenant governor until December 26, 2012, when Abercrombie appointed him to serve the rest of Daniel Inouye's U.S. Senate term after Inouye's death.[2] Schatz was the youngest U.S. Senator in the 112th Congress. He won the 2014 special election to complete the remainder of Inouye's Senate term, and was reelected in 2016 to a full six-year term, defeating Republican John Carroll.
Congressman Ed Case
Congressman Ed Case represents Hawai’i in the U. S. House of Representatives, where he serves on the Committee on Appropriations and Committee on Natural Resources. He earlier represented Hawai’i in the House from 2002 to 2007, serving on the Committees on Budget, Small Business, Education and Agriculture. Ed Case represented Manoa in the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002. He served in various capacities including Majority Leader and led efforts to reform government and politics.
Congressman Grijalva, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee
Raúl Grijalva began his career in public service as a community organizer in Tucson. Four decades later, he continues to be an advocate for those in need and a voice for the constituents of his home community. Despite a nine-candidate primary and the challenge of being outspent three-to-one by his closest competitor, Raúl was elected with a 20-point victory, thanks to a diverse coalition of supporters that led the largest volunteer-driven election effort in Arizona. Throughout his career, Raúl has always fought for underrepresented voices. The passions that drove him as a School Board member to fight for and succeed at implementing bilingual education in Arizona are the same passions that motivated him to help pass the first bond package containing a $10 million commitment to reinvest in older, poorer neighborhoods while he was a County Supervisor. Likewise, they are what drive him today as he fights to reform our broken immigration system, ensure livable wages for American workers, and create vital land protections to safeguard our nation’s natural treasures for the next generation. In 2018, Raúl became Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Another HUGE thanks to all the others who made this possible!! Ari Patz, Nicole Chatterson, Lori Mallini, Kahi Pecaro, BEACH, Jenn Homcy, Mike Elhoff, all the students that took time out of their day to give testimony in person, all the parents who brought their kids to give testimony, all the kids who signed the scroll, everyone who submitted testimony, everyone who shared the social media posts, and the council members who voted for this bill!!!