Public law 34-110, also known as the ‘Plastic Bag Ban,’ sponsored by Senator Regine Biscoe Lee and passed by the 34th Guam legislature, is seriously flawed. Language in the law allows for plastic bags that are identified to be recyclable to still be allowed for distribution come January 1, 2021.
The difference between a plastic bag and a plastic bag with the stamp “biodegradable,” or the recycling symbol sign is that one is a plastic bag with the stamp and the other is without.
There is no active regulation method or political interest to invest the time or money to chemically distinguish between the two plastic bags. Therefore, all businesses need to do is switch to a plastic bag with simple writing. Well-established businesses have already done so, Payless Supermarkets and the Exchange on base. However, if the law were to be effectively enforced, small businesses such as, mom and pop stores would be the businesses in trouble if they haven’t already switched to plastic bags with recycling writings.
Back in 2015, I gave my first public testimony at the committee hearing and asked my classmates to provide their views. And I supported a sales tax on plastic bags, mirroring taxes like in the states and in Japan, but it was scrapped because apparently an all-out ban on plastic bags is much more realistic and enforceable.
Our best move now is to fight plastic pollution by refusing single-use items out of personal convenience, and instead move towards reusable items. Change is difficult, but if we truly care enough to move towards island sustainability, we need to make active environmental decisions. We cannot rely on our government or businesses to make the best choices, because ultimately, they exist to serve you and if you demand convenience over a cleaner environment, then expect our landfills to keep filling and the normal sight of plastic bags floating with the wind.
We have less than a year until public law 34-110 takes effect, and if we want to live in a future with cleaner air, water and soil, we need to choose active environmental habits over personal convenience.
