Can I be honest with you?

Good!  Because I seriously had second thoughts about launching Just Bag it Hawaii!

Call it my lack of self-confidence, new business jitters or just good old-fashioned…fear!

I was on the verge of calling off an endeavor that I had barely started.

Then it happened…

At that very moment, while I wrestled with the idea of calling it quits, I was driving down the H-2 freeway over Kipapa Gulch when suddenly a white, rapidly swirling, plastic bag came spiraling towards my vehicle and swooped by my window continuing its journey down the freeway assaulting other cars and, possibly later, may have ended up entangled in a tree, going down a stream or landing on the beach or floating in the ocean and maybe, just maybe, was mistaken for a jellyfish and a meal by an unsuspecting hungry honu (sea turtle).

In an instant, any doubts that I had went out the window and Just Bag It Hawaii became a confirmed resolution.

Just Bag It Hawaii’s mission is to bring further awareness to everyone about the negative impact single-use plastic bags have on our environment while offering innovative products and solutions while delivering the message to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remember!

So here we are.

I figured that if you are like most people, you are undoubtedly becoming increasingly aware of the ever-growing concern about our environment.

Maybe you have had your own encounters with floating plastic bags while walking on the beach, hiking up in the mountains or just going about your day and driving…like I was.

You may have wondered…what will the environment be like for our future generations?

Let’s see what researchers, scientists, government officials and even our armed forces have to say and the actions they have taken:

** “Plastics, like diamonds…are forever! Plastic pollution doesn’t just look bad…plastic pollution is bad for the millions of animals that inhabit our ocean waters and for the people who fish, swim and recreate there.” according to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

• Only 3.5% of plastics are recylced in any way

• 63 pounds of plastic packaging goes into landfills in the U.S. per person per year

• Broken, degraded plastic pieces outweigh surface zooplankton in the Central North Pacific by 6 to 1

• Many marine birds and animals mistakenly eat pelagic (free-floating) plastic.

Often these animals cannot distinguish plastic from food. Plastic, because of its high molecular weight and the nature of its chemical bonds, can never be digested. It provides no nutrients. Eating plastic can cause animals to feel full and not hungry even though they are not actually consuming food. In birds, it has been shown that ingestion of plastics can prevent migration and reproduction, and can eventually cause starvation and death. In turtles, plastic has been shown to block intestines and make the animals float so that they cannot dive for food.

• Hawaii State lawmakers recognize the urgency to reduce plastic waste. On February 12, 2009, the Energy & Environment Committee (ENE) recommended that Senate Bill 584, introduced by Senator and Vice- Chair Kalani English, be passed and effective January 01, 2011. SB584 will prohibit distribution of plastic shopping bags by retail stores and supermarkets in the State.

• The County of Maui legislation has already passed its bag ban and will begin on January 01, 2011.

Council Vice-Chair Michael J. Molina stated, “In March 2007 the City & County of San Francisco was the first city to prohibit the distribution of plastic bags at the point of sale. Since then cities and countries throughout the world, such as Boston, Seattle, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Annapolis, New York, Austin, Phoenix, London, China, Australia, India, France, Italy and Taiwan have acted to ban the distribution of plastic bags; confirming that cities and countries throughout the world have recognized the impacts plastic bags have on our environment and wildlife.”

• Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu started eliminating coventional plastic bags as of January 01, 2009. Kaneohe Marine Corps Base retailers have stopped ordering plastic bags and will no longer use them once the current supply runs out, base officials said. “What we’re trying to address is the larger picture of encouraging the use of reusable products”, Maj David Haddock, director, Environmental Dept, MCB Hawaii, said in a news release. “We want to reduce the amount of waste we generate.”

• The U.S. Coast Guard quickly followed by announcing their bag ban on its Sand Island base exchange to begin March 2009.

Of course, these are just a few of the many drastic measures being taken right in our State, Nation and around the globe.

And it is all due to the seemingly innocent product that we have grown so accustomed to and have used in mind-boggling quantities…the easily accessible and convenient single-use plastic bag.

Fact: The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year. If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the earth 760 times!

Environmental groups estimate that 500 million to a trillion bags are handed out to consumers around the world each year with many millions of them littering the environment.

Very compelling and surely deserving of our immediate attention…

Wouldn’t you agree?

Therefore…

Why wait for a ban? Think about it. There is no need to wait. The Solution can literally be in the Palm of YOUR hands!

In the meantime…

How can we greatly reduce the number of toxic tumbleweeds we see floating in our streets, trees, streams, beaches and ocean?

As concerned and responsible individuals, we can take our own initiatives by…

Practicing the Four R’s:

1. Reduce ~ (the best option) the number of plastic bags you take by bringing your own bags…BYOB. The concept of BYOB is certainly not new but, for most of us, it has not become a habit…yet. No worries. We’ll help you! Take advantage of our Free Service today!
2. Reuse ~ existing plastic bags. Use them on your dog walks or to line your wastebaskets or for wet and smelly waste.
3. Recycle ~ plastic bags by dropping them into plastic bag recycling bins at retail stores such as Walmart. Make sure that the bags are not contaminated with waste or waste residue. Just remember, only 3.5% of plastics are reused or recycled in any way.
4. Remember ~ to BYOB. For most of us, remembering to BYOB will be a new habit and may be challenging at times as we lead our busy and hectic lives. We’re naturally inclined to resist adding yet another item to our already long “To Do” list.

A new habit?! Ugh!

Acquiring a new habit means change and the only babies look forward to changes…

Okay. All kidding aside.

Seriously. In his best-selling book, “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”, Stephen R. Covey notes, “In the rush to get everything done that we are given to do every day, we tend to take care of the urgent tasks first and push off the non-urgent ones. Yet, it is the important-but-not-urgent tasks (in this case, practicing the Four R’s) that will make the greatest long-term difference in the quality of your life. So you have to make them priority.

Indeed…if we make practicing the Four R’s a priority, it will make a long-term difference in ALL of our lives.

But don’t worry! What if we helped you transition from plastic to reusable bags? Sound like a good idea?

Just get Bagged and take advantage of our Free Service today!

Kicking the single-use plastic bag habit is one small -yet imperative step in moving forward.

Every small step taken by each and everyone of us…counts! So why wait!? Do it now, while you’re thinking about it! Be a Pioneer in your community!

Let’s do it for our beautiful state of Hawaii, our Planet and especially our Keikis…our future generation. Take advantage of our Free Service and get Bagged today by entering our Store!

Aloha & All the Best!

Justine M. Gronwald CEO - Bag Lady