Close the Plastic Bag Loophole
Bill 59 (2016) CD2, FD1 Strong Support
Oppose CD2 Un-Amended
Hearing Date: Wednesday May 10th, 10:30AM, Honolulu Hale
PLEASE SUBMIT TESTIMONY BY TUESDAY
O‘ahu's Plastic bag ban! This Bill amendment would:
- Get rid of the thicker "reusable" plastic bags in 2020,
- Implement ¢10 fee on paper (forever) and plastic bags (until they are phased out in 2020)
SUBMIT TESTIMONY HERE
Fill in the form with the following information (Your personal information will fill the top boxes):
Your testimony:
- I strongly support CD2 FD1 as this will phase out the use of plastic bags in our state for check-out, while also giving the community incentive to move towards a re-usable mindset that saves vital resources, helps eliminate litter, and protects our marine environment from future plastic pollution.
- I oppose CD2 as is, because this creates larger confusion & possible loopholes in what types of bags will be allowed in the future, without phasing out the thicker plastic bags.
Why I support plastic bag legislation:
- Plastic bags are not an environmentally friendly option at the checkout since they are not biodegradable or compostable at all! A huge problem with plastic bags, plastic bottles and other plastic materials is that they can take decades or centuries to degrade. Essentially, they’re with us in the environment forever.
- Environmentally, they threaten wildlife—over 663 species of ocean life have ingested or become entangled in plastic pollution.
- Plastic is costing cities, counties, states, & countries millions of dollars and our global economy billions. Costs are passed to the taxpayers by burdening our storm water management systems with the need for expensive best management practices and the costs of cleanups.
- Hawai‘i State Department of Transportation has produced a trash plan that shows styrofoam and plastic bags as the top two contributors to the waste stream.
- The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) created a plastic cleanup valuation study for 90+ counties in California:
- CA taxpayers are paying $428 million per year to clean up plastic through storm drain management, street sweeping, and cleanups.
- San Diego County (with population of 1.3 equivalent to Hawaii) spends $14 million alone on plastic cleanup
- United Nations Environmental Program Global Estimates are in the billions for the global cost to cleanup plastics, $14 billion for marine plastic alone.
- This cost is closer to $78 billion annually if all costs are considered, including the cost lost in fossil fuel production and loss of resources.