Progress: Hawaii County Votes For Plastic Bag Ban!

Success!

After a few hours of public testimony and council debate, a vote in favor of a recent amendment, one vote for postponement, a vote to revoke postponement, and a final up-and-down vote, I'm happy to report that the Hawaii County council voted 5 to 4 in favor of Bill 17—a plastic bag reduction bill.  That's the good news.

The frustrating part is that there are always two readings for a bill, so the issue will be discussed again in two weeks, on March 2nd.  Between now and then several amendments are likely, including new language to define more clearly what kind of bags will be allowed.

All in all, it is a step in the right direction as Hawaii County moves to join Maui, Kauai, and numerous other cities to reduce its carbon footprint and plastic pollution. We thank many of you for your support.

The debate, however, highlighted some disturbing examples of misinformation, including those who claim that the Pacific Garbage Patch is a "myth" and the truly befuddling misnomer of plastics as a "Natural Resource" because they are derived from, er, gas byproducts from petroleum...?

Just to be clear, the Pacific—you know, the ocean that entirely surrounds Hawaii on all sides— is unfortunately still choked and swirling with millions upon millions of particles of plastic. The idea that it is not as extensive in area or quite the literal "garbage dump" some may envision was sparked by a recent University of Oregon study where one research cruise found the extent of the plastic not as dense as others have claimed. However, their point was that the tiny fragments, if all pushed together, would make up only a very small solid area. But, this is NOT in conflict with previous findings. The fact remains that stretched out across and through the water column, there are millions of tiny fragments of plastic in relatively high concentrations (the natural state of the ocean would have none, after all) and this peppering of plastic spans an awfully enormous area.

Exaggerations do exist, but for a great explanation of this issue (and a reliable, scientific source), see the SEAPLEX expedition blog, run by Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The trouble with tiny plastic is those little pieces offer an unnaturally hard surface for invasive species and foreign microbes to cling to. The plastic also can accumulate toxins and because it is so small, it gets ingested and passed up the food chain. We simply don't know at this point what this is doing to the oceans.

You can keep signing the petition to make sure Hawaii County doesn't dilute this plastic bag ban too much.

Keep checking back as we will provide more updates on this campaign as the next hearing approaches. Meanwhile if you live somewhere besides Hawaii County, make sure you've got a plastic reduction campaign in the works. You can start one here.

Photo credit: Hawaii Council