HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.213 2010-2012 Page 1 of 1
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Murashige, Laura
From: Ashley Ching [hppaching @gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 3:04 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: 'Hawaii Public Policy Advocates'; 'Eliza Talbot'
Subject: Hawaii County Council -Testimony on Bill 17, Draft 2 (October 27 Public Hearing)
Attachments: Safeway Testimony Public Meeting Papaalopa Gym 10 27.pdf
Good Afternoon,
On behalf of Safeway,we would like to submit the attached testimony on Bill 17, Draft 2 which will be
heard before the Hawaii County Council at the public hearing scheduled for October 27.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. ,.,,,
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Ashley Ching --+
(808) 447-1840
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October 27, 2011
Council Chair, Dominic Yagong,
Council Vice Chair, Pete Hoffman
Council Members Fred Blas, Brenda Ford, Donald Ikeda, Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, K. Angel
Pilago, Brittany Smart, J Yoshimoto:
Re: Safeway's Support for Single-Use Bag Reduction in Hawaii County
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and Council Members:
I am writing today to demonstrate Safeway's support for the intent of Bill 17,
Draft 2 which amends Hawaii County Code 1983 to reduce the use of plastic bags in retail
stores throughout Hawai'i County. Safeway operates 19 stores throughout the state and two
stores on the Big Island. We applaud your desire to tackle this important issue. We believe,
however, that it is extremely important to encourage all consumers to reduce the use of both
paper and plastic bags. Both have significant effects on the environment.
We are aware that Maui and Kauai have both already adopted strict plastic bag
bans, however, we believe a fee-based system on both plastic and paper is the preferred
route. The city of San Francisco completely banned plastic bags several years ago—but did
not address the issue of paper bag use. As a retailer with 15 stores in that city, we saw our
costs for paper bags increase substantially—by more than $1 million a year. This figure is in
addition to the costs we were already absorbing to provide paper bags to our customers.
Similarly, we have incurred significant cost increases in Maui and Kaua'i counties as well as
a result of their plastic bag bans. The shift is not only more expensive, but paper is also more
environmentally damaging to produce than plastic bags.
We believe consumers need a strong disincentive to truly change their behavior. By
placing a fee on both plastic and paper, you will encourage all consumers to think"reusable."
Safeway provides a number of low-cost reusable bag options and we would be happy to
participate in an initial reusable bag give-away program to promote this important concept.
We would also be happy to provide free paper or plastic bags to any customer on such
federally approved low-income programs as WIC or Food Stamps.
We support the council's intent to apply the mandate to all retailers for uniformity.
This will ensure there is no competitive advantage among certain retailers. Should you have
additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (925) 467-2212 or George
Glukfeld, our Hawaii district manager at(808) 524-4554.
Sincerely,
Susan M. Houghton
Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations