Eschewing the plastic bag nothing new at Kailua shop

The plastic bag ban left many businesses scrambling to find alternatives and educate their customers. But not at Global Village in Kailua, where there hasn’t been a plastic bag in sight since 2007.

Owner Debbie Ah Chick says it was not an easy decision eight years ago, but one that she and her sister, Dawn, and mother, Sharrie, made conscientiously.

“We’ve always had paper (bags),” said Ah Chick. “We’ve never had plastic. All of our paper has been post-consumer reused product. We just felt so strongly about reusing and reducing. … We’ve always tried to be environmentally sound as far as running our business.”

Customers shopping for casual dresses, handcrafted jewelry, gifts and accessories with a beach-themed decor are encouraged not to take a bag for purchases, but are given a paper bag for 25 cents if they insist. Proceeds from those who choose to go bagless are donated to local nonprofit groups.

It was a challenge, she admits, and not the best business decision back then. It was also met with resistance. Some people reacted with the attitude of, ‘Wow, this business is being so cheap in not wanting to give us a bag.’”

Attitudes started to ease a little when neighbor isle counties passed plastic checkout bag bans over the past few years.

When Target opened its doors across the street in March, the big-box store’s decision to give customers no checkout bags at all lent a little more credibility to the boutique.

Now the tide has turned with the plastic bag ban in place on Oahu.

Recently the store began encouraging customers to not only bring in reusable totes, but also specifically the store’s reusable totes.

The boutique’s store-branded green cotton totes with a beach hammock scene are $5 or free to customers who spend at least $40.

The specific tote qualifies customers for special discounts and deals at the store on “Tote Tuesdays.”

With savings created by customers who bring their own bag or spare a bag, Ah Chick estimates Global Village has been able to save 4,000 bags, resulting in about $1,000 in donations to two local nonprofit groups in the first quarter of the year.

“People are a lot more receptive now,” she said. “In 2007 we hardly raised any money, and we didn’t enforce it as we do today. The program has evolved to make the most sense environmentally and to maximize the donations to the nonprofits we are contributing to.”

Global Village boutique is at 539 Kailua Road, Suite 104. Visit globalvillagehawaii.com.

Nina Wu writes about environmental issues. Reach her at nwu@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter @ecotraveler.