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Murashige, Laura L�
From: Donna R. Goodale [donna @goodale.org]
n 1 ,
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 6:57 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: bill #17 ;
Attachments: DGoodaleBagTestimonyFeb2011.doc
Please my testimony for bill #17 attached.
Thankyou
Donna Goodale
Ref. TD, hw eared
Ref. Date F 1 6 Di>t
2/15/2011
Testimony for Bill #17 (Plastic Bag Reduction) February 1, 2011
Donna R. Goodale
73 -5403 Kohanaiki Rd.
Kailua -Kona, HI 96740
808 - 325 -1472
donnakgoodale.org
Hualalai Academy Science and Math Teacher
West Hawaii Fisheries Council
I support the bill to reduce the use of plastic bags distributed to customers at checkout.
I am a teacher at Hualalai Academy and the students I have brought with me today are
going to testify in favor of this bill. They will present statistics on the following points
about Plastic Checkout Bags:
1. Plastic bags are made from oil. The average car can drive 1 mile on the
oil it takes to make 14 plastic bags. For the number of bags used each day, we
could drive our cars 71,428,571 miles more each day.
2. A reduction in use of plastic bags and thus oil, would reduce our need
for more oil, and thus reduce the need to drill in sensitive ecosystems such as the
deep water in the Gulf of Mexico.
3. It costs $4,000 to recycle 1 ton of plastic bags. The resulting product is
then worth only $32 making recycling of plastic check -out bags uneconomical.
4. It only costs $0.01 -$0.04 to make a plastic bag but it cost $0.17 a bag in
cumulative costs to clean up the mess they make, etc.
5. Plastic makes up 90% of the trash in the ocean and plastic bags are the
most common plastic item in the ocean
6. Over 100,000 marine animals die each year due to ingestion of, or
entanglement in plastic bags. Land animals such as cows and their calves also
ingest plastic bags and die.
6. Plastic bags take from 400 to 1000 years to decompose.
7. Re- usable bags are inexpensive and it is easy to change our habits to use
a re- usable bag. Life goes on in places such as San Francisco where check -out
bags have been banned. Maui and Kauai are adjusting to their new regulations.
8. In place of "check -out" bags, other types of discarded plastic bags can
be put to alternate uses instead of check -out bags. For example an old bread bag,
tortilla bag, or chip bag can be used to pick up dog feces.
9. Garbage bags made from recycled plastic are very inexpensive and can
be used to line trash cans. They are "recycled" already and they come in various
sizes making them superior to using a "check -out bag ".
10. Nothing is "free ". The cost of "free" check -out bags is incorporated
into the cost of retail items.
Please support Bill #17 to reduce the use of plastic bags distributed to customers at
checkout.
Sincerely,
V&md ,R, JoUd