[7/7/15] A week into Oahu's plastic bag ban, some folks are wondering why so many plastic bags are still being given out at island grocery checkout stands.
Anna Sabino was so alarmed she started a petition at Change.org, demanding that city officials get tough on retailers for breaking the law. Some of the stores, she pointed out, have introduced a thicker plastic bag — and are describing them as reusable — while others are giving out compostable plastic bags.
"Please do not let any store replace plastic bags handed at checkouts by other kinds of plastic bags," the Honolulu woman wrote on the petition signed by more than 150 people as of Monday.
While the reality is those kinds of plastic bags are indeed legal, having been added to the ordinance by the Honolulu City Council as a compromise to an outright ban on plastic, environmental groups contend the companies that are using the bags are violating the spirit of the law.
"They are taking advantage of a loophole," said Stuart Coleman, Hawaii coordinator with the Surfrider Foundation, which helped lobby for the ordinance.
Acceptable bags under the law, first approved three years ago, include compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and "reusable bags," which have handles and may be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils, or 0.00225 inch, thick.
The city recently surveyed Oahu businesses to see how they planned to comply with the July 1 plastic bag ban. Of those retailers who planned to keep offering bags, 44 percent indicated they would use recyclable paper bags, 25 percent planned to use compostable plastic bags and 31 percent were going to use reusable bags, which includes the thicker plastic bag.
Among the retailers offering the thicker plastic bags are Walmart, Longs, Times Supermarket, Don Quijote, City Mill and Tamura's. Some of the stores are giving the bags away, while others charge a small fee and are touting their potential for reuse.
City Mill offers both a 2.25-mil plastic bag for 10 cents and a reusable "eco-bag" for 99 cents.
Printed on the Walmart heavy-duty plastic bag are the words "Sustainable," "Recyclable" and "Usable."
The Walmart bag was ridiculed by the Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter website as being "the worst." The wording is "blatantly unacceptable and the creation of these bags misses the whole point of the law which aims to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics and protect our marine environments."
Walmart couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Kahi Pacarro, executive director of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, said these retailers are "greenwashing" their actions to make themselves appear environmentally responsible.
"In reality the thicker bag is even worse for the environment because they will take even longer to break down," he said. "It's a slap in the face. We worked so hard to get this passed."
Pacarro said that while the compostable plastic bag is better than the thicker bag, it too is unacceptable. Such bags don't break down in water and require heat from a composting facility. The problem, he said, is that Oahu doesn't have a commercial composting facility.
"Until they get to that composting facility, they remain a risk to our wildlife," he said.
In lieu of a composting facility, the city is advising residents to put compostable bags in the gray cart with their regular refuse. All regular refuse on Oahu is sent to the city's HPOWER waste-to-energy facility, where it is incinerated to generate electricity.
"It's important to note that even without a separate composting system for compostable plastic bags, the plastic bag ban will significantly reduce the number of plastic bags being distributed by retailers on Oahu and reduce the number of plastic bags that are littered onto beaches and into the ocean, which is the ultimate goal," Tim Houghton, deputy director of the city Environmental Services Department, said in a statement.
[7/1/15] After three years of warnings, it's finally here.
The city's plastic bag ban becomes law Wednesday.
City Environmental Services Director Lori Kahikina, who enforces the ban, admits she's among those having a hard time adjusting.
She estimated she's piled up a dozen reusable bags in the trunk of her car in anticipation of July 1. But like many other folks, she sometimes forgets to take them into the supermarket or store.
"It's going to take some getting used to," Kahikina said. "Everyone's just going to have to try to remember to bring in their own bags."
Oahu residents joined folks in the rest of the state Wednesday as the city's plastic bag ban took effect.
The plastic bag ordinance was signed by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle in 2012 and amended last year. While retailers can no longer give customers plastic bags, the ordinance allows for a number of exceptions.
Retailers can choose to give compostable plastic bags along with recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content. The reusables that customers can take to the store are also defined. They have to be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils, or 0.0022 of an inch, thick.
Retailers and restaurateurs can also still use plastic bags to carry plate lunches, poke bowls and other prepared food, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, frozen food and other loose items including nuts, coffee, candy, flowers or plants, medications, newspapers, laundry and pet items.
Those retailers using compostable or paper bags will be paying 10-14 cents a bag, significantly more than the 2 cents a bag they've been paying for plastics. Some retailers have warned that they will have no choice but to pass on those costs to consumers.
Environmental groups, which have led the charge for plastic bag bans, contend the environmental factors far outweigh widespread use of plastic bags.
Some retailers have been gearing up for years. Foodland will give 5 cents credit or three Hawaiian Airlines mileage awards for every reusable bag used.
[6/22/15] Rob Parsons is amazed when he travels to Oahu and sees all the plastic bags being handed out at stores left and right.
"We're so over it," said Parsons, Maui County's environmental coordinator.
With the plastic checkout bag banned on Maui 41⁄2 years ago, the Valley Isle has seen a dramatic difference along roadways, in trees and across the landscape, according to Parsons and others.
"Those windblown plastic bags are all but gone," he said.
It's much the same story on Kauai, which outlawed plastic checkout bags the same time Maui County did, and on Hawaii island, where they were banned in 2013, according to folks on those islands.
Oahu?
Honolulu is about to become the last county in Hawaii to ban the plastic checkout bag. Starting July 1, businesses will be prohibited from giving out plastic bags and nonrecyclable paper bags to their customers at the point of sale for carrying groceries or other merchandise.
The law is being welcomed by those who see it as dealing with the impacts of plastic bags on the environment, which include litter, a growing burden on the landfill and threats to marine life.
Many merchants, on the other hand, warn that the ban will add to the cost of doing business — a cost that undoubtedly will be passed on to customers.
And then there are those who will miss the plastic "T-shirt" bag for its utility as a trash can liner, a pet cleanup bag, a lunch holder and a million other things.
First approved by the Honolulu City Council three years ago and signed into law by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle, the law was amended slightly last year and then signed by Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
Acceptable bags include compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper bags that contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and "reusable bags," which have handles and may be made of fabric or other durable material suitable for reuse, including plastic that is at least 2.25 mils or 0.00225 inch thick.
The law applies only to bags distributed at checkout. Plastic bags will still be OK for loose items such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, candy, or small hardware items, and for frozen foods, meat or fish, flowers or plants, medications, newspaper, laundry and pet items.
[10/1/14] So, now it's official.
Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell signed Bill 38 into law on Thursday, Sept. 25, which would ban retailers from distributing plastic carryout bags — including biodegradable bags — starting July 1, 2015.
Oahu follows Maui, Kauai and the Big Island in banning plastic bags at checkout. But California, not Hawaii, became the first state to ban plastic bags yesterday.
In the first version of the bill, biodegradable bags would have been exempted, until environmentalists pointed out they can be just as damaging in the ocean. Compostable bags that meet the standards of ASTM International are allowed.
The bag ban, though not perfect, is great news for our environment. It's going to be an adjustment for folks who take plastic bags for granted.
In our recent Big Q poll, the majority of readers (346) said they plan to start hoarding plastic takeout bags in response to the news. I imagine some began hoarding as soon as they heard Honolulu was considering a ban.
How will you prepare for Oahu’s plastic-bag ban at stores, to be effective July 1?
- B. Start hoarding plastic bags (49%, 346 Votes)
- A. Start using recyclable bags (33%, 231 Votes)
- C. Already stopped using plastic (18%, 123 Votes)
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