Karin Stanton | Hawaii 24/7 Editor

A bill to reduce the number of plastic bags on the Big Island is heading to the County Council after approval Tuesday by the Environmental Management Committee.

The bill, re-introduced by Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann, passed with a 5-3 vote and will move up to the full council for two readings.

Opposing the bill were Donald Ikeda, J Yoshimoto and Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, all of Hilo.

Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong recused himself from the vote. He is employed as district manager by Food Pantry Ltd., overseeing 12 business operations located in Oceanview, Pahoa, Waikoloa, South Kohala, and North and South Kona.

Similar bills have failed twice, including once within the last two years. Unresolved issues regarding enforcement led former Mayor Harry Kim to reject the first effort.

Maui and Kauai recently have enacted laws restricting use of plastic shopping bags, earning praise from the U.S. Environmental Proctection Agency.

To testify at Tuesday’s committee hearing, Donna Goodale brought along 40 of her seventh, eighth and ninth grade science students from Hualalai Academy.

The students have been researching plastic bags, the impact on the environment and their associated costs.

Several students testified, urging county lawmakers to pass the bill.
They asked the council to consider the actual dollar cost to consumers, the county and the environment. They noted plastic has a detrimental effect on the land, the ocean and the marine ecosystem.

Jenny Kalmbach, a Kona resident and top stand-up paddler, last year paddled between the channels separating the Hawaiian islands to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the ocean.

Although Kalmbach was unable to attend the meeting, she submitted testimony supporting the bill.

“The world today has become dependent on plastic. The plastic products we are using in our society are eventually making their way into our ocean, ending up in the bellies of fish and birds, wrapped around monk seals and turtles and tangled on the flukes of whales,” Kalmbach wrote. “Debris washes ashore and litters our beaches and while it is unsightly, it goes far beyond that. It is becoming a hazard to our health and the health of our marine mammals and environment.”

Including Goodale’s students and another class of students in Waimea, at least 83 people came out to voice their opinions of the bill. Testimony was overwhelmingly in favor.

Among the few in opposition was an employee of Suisan Company, Ltd.

He said Suisan serves more than 700 businesses across the island, including many restaurants that use plastic bags for take-out orders.

Plastic bags are economical, functional and space efficient, he said, and are useful for greasy and steamy foods.

Consumers should be allowed to choose which packaging they prefer, he said.

In a December interview, Hoffmann acknowledged the bill, modeled on the one adopted in San Francisco, likely won’t completely solve pollution problems.

“We don’t want to sacrifice the environment on the altar of convenience and I mean that sincerely. We’re not eliminating plastic bags, but we need to start somewhere to reduce our reliance on plastic” he said. “Almost everyone will face, in any given month, that dreaded question – ‘paper or plastic?’ – and we say neither.”

One of the reasons some residents say they need plastic bags is to pooper-scoop their dogs’ waste.

However, Hoffmann said, “we can’t sacrifice this island’s aina simply for people’s dog poop.”

Reducing the number of plastic bags won’t likely have an immediate impact, but Hoffmann said it will have long-term implications as the county mulls how to best handle its solid waste.

Hoffmann said he favors a stair-step implementation process that could take one to two years to phase out plastic bags.