Kauai passes a bill to ban non-biodegradable single use plastic bags

The Kauai county council finally passed a law that bans retail establishments from using single use plastic bags unless they decompose at a rate comparable to paper, leaves and food. Additionally legal bags may not contain any polymers created with fossil fuels. The law goes into effect on January 11, 2011 which is the same day a similar law goes into effect on Maui.

Kudos to Kauai for helping to lead the country towards sustainabilty. Given Kauai's isolation and the beautiful island itself, this makes a lot of sense. Why ship tons of plastic from the mainland to Kauai so it can be used once to bring home groceries to only then get dumped in the landfill ?

I'm heading down to Poipu Sands 124 in November to get it ready for the winter season and accept a brand new sleeper sofa and love seat. I'm going to bring down about 5 or so reusable grocery bags and leave them for guests to use instead of relying upon throwaway plastic bags from Big Save or Star Market. Hopefully the bags will be able to stick around for future guests. In any case it seems like a little thing I and guests can do to help protect the island.