Now Banned in Hawaii: Plastic Bags

We’ve heard of city-wide plastic bag bans, but a whole state? Now that takes chutzpah. As LiveScience reports, Hawaii is the first state in the whole country to ban the use of plastic bags, which means residents now have the minor inconvenience of bringing their own reusable bags, or using paper bags, at stores or restaurants. Plastic bags for bulk items such as meat, grains and produce will still be available.
It’s a small price to pay when you stack it up against the environmental cost of using plastic. When plastic bags aren’t taking up space underneath the kitchen sink, they’re discarded and end up surfacing in tree branches, polluting landfills and oceans, and being eaten by unsuspecting animals. Not only are plastic bags a menace to the planet, but their production also sucks up resources: It takes 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture the 102 billion plastic bags that Americans use annually, according to the United Nations.
MORE: These Women Are Doing Something Amazing With Simple Plastic Bags
As Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawaii chapter, told the Huffington Post: “Being a marine state, perhaps, we are exposed more directly to the impacts of plastic pollution and the damage it does to our environment.” With Hawaii leading the charge against plastic bags, hopefully other states will soon take notice.

What Would a City with No Plastic Bags Look Like?

On January 1, big stores in Los Angeles will no longer offer shoppers plastic bags at all, making it the biggest U.S. city to ban plastic bags. The law will help reduce pollution and encourage the use of reusable totes. And to help Angelinos get used to the idea, city officials have cooked up a plan to give out free reuseable bags. What I love about this LA Times story is how the city “teamed up with environmental and charity groups that work with veterans and former gang members to produce a line of bags made from recycled or repurposed materials.” This kind of city-civic partnership is a great example of bringing every one who cares about an issue to the table and coming up with solutions that offer something to everyone.