Home » INTERNATIONAL MARINE LITTER DATABASE » Year of publication » 2013 » Hawaii County Set To Begin Plastic Bag Ban
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/31/hawaii-plastic-bag-ban_n_4525000.html Hawaii County Set To Begin Plastic Bag Ban Posted: 12/31/2013 2:37 pm EST | Updated: 01/02/2014 9:18 pm EST Imagine a future where endless balls of plastic bags aren't jammed underneath the kitchen sink, where the idea of a "plastic bag holder" is as quaint as a CD rack, and where that famous scene in "American Beauty" prompts children to ask their parents about the bygone days of plastic bag pollution. For Hawaii, such a future is just around the corner. All four of the populated counties in Hawaii have passed legislation banning plastic bags at checkout counters, making it the first state in the country to pass such a ban. (There is a fifth county, Kalawao County, in Hawaii, but it is very remote and barely populated.) On the Big Island, where consumers have been paying for plastic bags at checkout lines for the past year, the ban officially begins on Jan. 17 at grocery stores, restaurants and retailers.