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December 04, 2007
Surveys show that most want their government to protect the environment. While enthusiasm wanes when people are asked if they’re willing to pay for it, the assumption that environmental protection costs big money doesn’t always hold true. Sometimes, being green is inexpensive or even free. Here are some of the best eco-ideas that don’t cost a dime:
A ban on plastic bags
It’s been done in San Francisco and proposed on Maui and Oahu. It would almost instantly eliminate the tens of millions of plastic bags going to our landfills. The downside is minimal – besides the squawking of a few bag distributors and manufacturers, no one can legitimately claim that this will put a damper on shopping, and the inconvenience is minor. After all, people still go to Costco even though they don’t provide bags.
Staggered work hours for government workers.
This could make an enormous difference in rush-hour traffic. If more HGEA and UPW workers were allowed to start at 9:00 or 9:30 a.m., it would alleviate plenty of congestion. This would have to be negotiated, but as governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make commutes more tolerable, we should try the easy stuff first. Getting people to travel during non-peak hours is a proven alternative with no downside, except those of us expecting services from certain government offices might have to wait until mid morning––a small price to pay for less crowded roads.
Government should LEED by example
Every year, skyrocketing government electricity bills are squeezing out more useful items from the annual budgets. The solution is simple – every state, county, and federal building should be built meeting the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for efficiency, so that we know that our taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted burning more fossil fuel than necessary.
Make retailers take your bottles back
The reason that bottle deposit laws work in other places is that if you buy a twelve-pack at a store, you get to take the bottles back to the same store for your refund. Hawaii’s system creates an additional trip for consumers – to the redemption location, which is rarely the same place you bought the item. That hassle is enough for some people to just throw the containers in the trash and let the government keeps the nickels. This might be good for the cash balance of the Bottle Deposit Special Fund, (which is sometimes over 20 million bucks!) and retailers say that it’s more business friendly, but if we’re going to do this, we should do it right. The half-measure that passed didn't get us a functioning program. It should be fixed. Retailers will adjust, and consumers will be pleased.
Brian Schatz served as a Representative in the State House for four terms, from 1998 through 2006 and is presently the Chief Executive Officer of Helping Hands Hawaii, one of Hawaii’s largest social service agencies.
Brian Schatz
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