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Billy Kenoi, Hawaii County Mayor, signed a bill on January 17th which would place a ban on plastic bags when the law goes into effect. Beginning a year from now the ban will start, which will force stores to stop offering guests plastic bags at checkout for free.
During the first year of the ban stores will be allowed to sell the bags that they have, and once the initial year is done they will be banned for good. Customers will be forced to bring their own bags to use to take their purchases home with them, or use more eco-friendly paper bags.
This ban has created quite a commotion among residents, especially on the Big Island. Plastic bags are usually not biodegradable, and are a major threat to marine wildlife such as sea turtles which mistake the bags for jelly fish and eat them. Many residents are happy about the ban, but opponents of the ban say that the plastic bags benefit many residents on the often rainy Big Island.
In an article published before the ban was signed, Hawaii News Now reported that similar laws had already been put into effect in Kauai and Maui counties. Now that the bill has been signed into law Honolulu County is the only county in the state without a ban on plastic bags.
Similar laws have been introduced, but have not been accepted yet, and in the last legislative session at Honolulu Hale a bill died that proposed a ten-cent fee on plastic bags.
Recent years have been a major wake up call for the world, and people are starting to realize the importance of preservation. Bills such as the ones being passed to ban plastic bags are a necessity, and any benefit of plastic bags can certainly be made up for by using a re-usable type of bag.
