Some are buying plastic bags in bulk at Sam’s Club or online (1,000 for about $14, and yes, that’s legal).
The more hard-core are going with naked bathroom trash cans and making the commitment to regularly wash them out. (Pretty nasty when that one piece of dental floss is stuck way on the bottom. Or worse.)
Much of the focus of discussion has been on the “public” side of Oahu’s new ban on plastic bags — remembering to bring your own reusable bag every time you go to the store.
The effects on the other end, however, are more private — finding replacements for all the ways those plastic bags were reused at home. From dealing with wet swimsuits to packing shoes or taking a harvest of green onions to the neighbors, people are forced to improvise.
Designated “bag drawers” in kitchens are becoming depleted. Some (who did not want to be named, because SHAME) are asking mainland relatives to save and mail their plastic bags. People are buying special bags from the pet store for dog walking/ litter box cleaning duties. Others are shopping online for biodegradable bags.
“We saved up as many as we could for cat litter and our small garbage cans,” said R. Kevin Garcia Doyle. “We’re prepared to switch over to small Glad bags when we have to. It’s the end of an era, but it will ultimately be a better world and frankly our cats don’t care what we scoop their poop into.”
There are tutorials on YouTube for folding sheets of newspaper into eco-friendly trash can liners (Remember how to make an easy origami cup? That’s basically it.) Others are carefully reusing the plastic sleeve that protects your newspaper from early morning rain showers.
“Skinny, but they’ve become ‘da bag de opala,’” said Danny Lyman.
Neighbor island residents who are now veterans of this change have had some fun rolling their eyes over Oahu’s bagless challenges.
“Plastic bags were banned a few years ago on the Big Island, and after the initial brouhaha, people got adjusted and got over it,” said former Miss Hawaii Desiree Moana Cruz, who lives in Hilo. She adapted by recalling the lessons of her grandmother: “Wash those plastic poi bags and all ZipLocs and hang them on the line; save rubber bands, ribbons, envelopes, boxes and string for reuse. Be akamai, not lazy!”
“It’s hard to remember, but we all survived prior to plastic bags,” said Leah Kihara, who has committed to washing and reusing the plastic bags she has in her house. “Now the question is how to reuse the paper bags being given out. My kids only need so many book covers!”
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
