By next year your trip to the grocery store could get a little more expensive.
A proposal would allow stores to charge you ten cents for each plastic bag.
Look in the back of Annie Suite's car and you'll see she's got options.
"It's kind of fun. I have an entire bag of bags inside my car. And like when I shop I think which one am I going to show off today," said Oahu resident, Annie Suite.
Jayne Coultier is making a documentary about sustainability.
She grew up in Switzerland, where a bag fee has been in place for decades.
"The grocery store charges you for the plastic bag they charge you ten cents. And for the paper bag they charge you a little bit more. They charge you thirty cents. And then you can reuse them and bring them back the next time the next time you go to the grocery store," said Oahu resident Jayne Coultier.
The intent of house bill 2125 is to provide a push for others to ditch plastic bags, reducing the amount of waste in our islands.
The ten cents would remain with the store, to be used in recycling and educational efforts, like what happens in Switzerland.
"They have like a pallet with the mesh around and then you can take off all the plastic wrapping from the products you bought. You can put that in there, and the grocery store will recycle that for you," said Coultier.
Some stores, like Down to Earth have already stopped using plastic bags, changing to biodegradable bags.
"But if they are in a landfill or disposed in the environment they biodegrade in nine months to five years, completely breakdown to nothing but water, methane, and humus or soil," said Mark Fergusson, C.E.O. of Down to Earth.
And many believe this is a step in the right direction to lessen our use of potentially harmful plastic bags.
"I think people don't realize how many billions of plastic bags they use. And that really adds up. And once it goes into the landfill it never breaks down," said Suite.
House Bill 2125 remains alive, moving out of one committee.
