Plastic Bag Ban In Hawaii Part II
And the Plastic Bag Band Plays on!
There is a lot of talk (and a bit of shouting) these days about the “plastic bag ban” here in our great Aloha State. Here are some facts about the fuss:
The plastic bag ban in Maui and Kaua’i counties: It’s official
Beginning on 1/1/11, Maui and Kaua’i counties officially banned single use plastic bags.
According to the “Rules Relating to the Plastic Bag Reduction”, provided on the Maui County Official Website (PDF), the new law prohibits all businesses, including restaurants, from providing plastic bags to customers “for the purpose of transporting groceries or other goods”. The exceptions to this ban include handle-less bags used for the protection of food products (such as raw meat) and garments (as provided by a dry cleaning service). Violators of the law face an initial fine of up to $500 per day, and additional fines up to $1,000 per day after a thirty-day period, should the violator choose not to take corrective action.
As stated in the “Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance” provided by Kaua’i County, the Garden Isle’s plastic bag ban looks much like Maui’s, only differing in the amount of the fine ($250 for initial violation, $500 for the second within 365 days, and $1,000 for any additional violations within 365 days of the first violation) and the allowance of biodegradable bags
Oahu and Hawaii: What are they waiting for?
Plastic bag bans have been proposed on both Oahu and the Hawaii, but have not yet been passed into law.
Efforts on the Big Island are gaining momentum. Just this week, schoolchildren joined those in favor of a plastic bag ban to voice support of Bill 17, modeled after the bans in effect in Kaua’i and Maui counties. As 12-year-old Kailua-Kona resident, Jackson Streiter, expressed in an interview with West Hawaii Today, “Plastic bags aren’t the only bag out in the world…Plastic bags don’t just kill animals. They create pollution.”
The County Council Environmental Management Committee agreed, voting 5-3 to move the bill forward.
But there has not always been such support for this bill, originally proposed in 2008, and many Big Islanders continue to express their aversion, citing inconvenience and “excessive governmental regulation”.
While the Big Island moves forward with the plastic bag ban bill, a similar bill has stalled out on Oahu.
Some folks have claimed to not see the problem with plastics. At a meeting of the planning and sustainability committee in 2008, the Director of the Department of Environmental Services, Eric S. Takamura, told the Honolulu City Council, “We don’t see a lot of plastic bags in the mix…On my way out to Kapolei, I may see one or two, but not lining the side of the freeway. Yeah, I don’t see it (as a problem).” source
Perhaps he – and anyone else who doesn’t see the problem – should open their eyes. Or take a look in the ocean where, according to a report by Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita foundation, as cited in Discover Magazine, “Pieces of plastic outweigh surface zooplankton by a factor of 6 to 1…Ninety percent of Laysan albatross chick carcasses and regurgitated stomach contents contain plastics.”
If Mr. Takamura and others are still not convinced that plastics are a problem, perhaps they should consider what’s on their dinner table. Captain Moore’s reports confirm, “Fish and seabirds mistake plastic for food. Plastic debris releases chemical additives and plasticizers into the ocean. Plastic also adsorbs hydrophobic pollutants like PCBs and pesticides like DDT. These pollutants bioaccumulate in the tissues of marine organisms, biomagnify up the food chain, and find their way into the foods we eat.” Oh so ono, eh?
Others on Oahu are fully aware of the problem. Their lack of support for the ban has nothing to do with denial of the problem, but more to do with the inadequacies of the proposed bill. Some are calling for a complete ban (vs. the proposed partial ban that would initially apply only to larger businesses with annual gross sales of more than $1 million, and exempt smaller businesses for five years after the ban is put into effect), and others, like council member Ann Kobayashi, are asking for a more comprehensive bill “to encourage recycling and reuse of all kinds of single-use food containers not just a partial ban on plastic bags.” source
For now it seems, at least on Oahu, it’s plastics as usual. While Maui, Kaua’i, and the Big Island move ahead with their plans to protect our ‘aina, Oahu continues to be “the gathering place”…for plastics and other hazardous waste.
