The City and County of Honolulu was the lone holdout, but when Oahu’s plastic bag ban goes into effect July 1, Hawaii will be the first state in the nation where single-use plastic bags are banned at retail, supermarket and food-service checkout counters, beating California, whose summer start has been put on hold.
What does that mean for you? Not that much.
While many businesses encourage consumers to bring in their own reusable bags, they also want to ease shoppers into living with the new restrictions by swapping their plastic bags for reusable bags available for purchase on-site, or paper, compostable or recyclable bags.
Finding a replacement for plastic should be no problem, so put your bag hoarding to rest.
That doesn’t mean you should ignore the spirit of the law, which is to be mindful of reducing waste. Environmentalists warn of the danger of getting comfortable with compostable bags that don’t break down easily and still contribute to ocean pollution.
“I’ve always been careful with the environment. When you see the waste and the death and destruction of animals in the water, how could it not affect you?”
Carol D’Angelo
|
So it’s important to start getting into the habit of conserving resources, which becomes easier when you have more stylish options.
It’s an idea Ecolicious artists and designers Dexter Doi and Carol D’Angelo began exploring eight years ago, when British designer Anya Hindmarch created a limited-edition canvas tote bag that read "I’m Not a Plastic Bag." The bag, launched in collaboration with a global social change movement, Shift, found its way to 100,000 online shoppers, was featured in Time Magazine and was included in Vanity Fair’s Academy Awards goodie bags. Seemingly overnight the bag made it fashionable to take an anti-plastic stance.
"Up until that time we were painting on canvas, but we wanted to do something else with canvas that was reusable and eco-friendly," D’Angelo said. "We started with two bag designs. Now we have at least 20, and we’re getting into clutches and small shoulder bags."
The Ecolicious reusable totes range from heavy canvas totes big enough to hold a 12-pack of beer and more, as well as thinner book bags for light shopping excursions or just to hold the miscellanea one picks up or needs during the day, from magazines to a light snack. Most bags run from $22 to $28.
"I’ve always been careful with the environment," said D’Angelo. "When you see the waste and the death and destruction of animals in the water, how could it not affect you?"
A year ago Ecolicious began donating a portion of sales of its bags to Sustainable Coastlines, which encourages individuals and communities to care for the coastlines through beach cleanup events.
Entrepenuer Laura Noda launched Reusables for Life in 2011, inspired by her work at an environmental nonprofit. Although demand started slow for her machine-washable fabric shopping bags, she said business picked up when a plastic bag ban went into effect on Hawaii island in January 2014. Noda, who lives on Oahu, grew up in Hilo, so she was able to pitch her bags to store buyers while visiting family there.
She has yet to approach retailers on Kauai and Maui, where plastic bag bans were enacted in 2011.
As the Oahu deadline nears, she said sales on Oahu are also picking up. You can find Reusables for Life’s 100 percent cotton and polyester-cotton blend bags at Menehune Mac, Hawaiian Chip Co., Down to Earth Kapolei, Paperie, Nijiya Market, Laule‘a and Bishop Museum’s Shop Pacifica. Though nearly weightless, she said, the poly-cotton bags can hold up to 25 pounds. Prices range from $9.99 to $14.
Noda will host a Reusables for Life pop-up store from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 11 at Menehune Mac in Kalihi.
"From what I’ve heard has been happening on the Big Island, it’s just a matter of changing habits," Noda said. "It’s not easy to remember bringing your bag into the store, but if you keep it in a handy place in your car or by your door, you’ll remember."
She said it’s a good idea to keep several reusable bags in your car or a daily go-to bag. "After shopping you’re probably going to bring a couple in the house, and you might forget to bring them back to your car. It’s also a good idea to have two or three more bags in a bag so if you’re already carrying one bag, you’ll have more for unexpected purchases."
Now that the ban is getting closer, I see more and more people carrying their groceries with a reusable bag, so I think that’s a good thing," said D’Angelo, whose interest in the islands led her to sign up for environmental studies classes upon arriving here in 1959 from Santa Monica, Calif.
Even back then people with foresight could see mankind’s adverse impact on the planet.
"My teacher was so inspiring, but he was prepared for destruction of the earth. He had a boat and a plan to take his family to a safe location when the end comes," she said. "I have no escape plan. I don’t imagine it’s going to get that bad. People may call me a tree hugger and things like that, but we all have to do our part to save the environment, because, look where we live."
Ecolicious bags are available at Whole Foods Market, Global Village Kailua, Hawaii State Art Museum gift shop and at First Break Waikiki in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, or online at ecolicioushawaii.com.
