Council to Decide on Plastic Bags for Big Island

[Bob Orts]

I asked on of the supervisors in charge of roadway cleaning here on the mainland, to list in order what is collected alongside the roads. Here’s his list in order of the amount collected:

Paper soft* (sheets, wrappers, shreds)
Paper hard* (cardboard)
Construction material (pre and post)
Plastic container (hard and soft plastic containers and packaging)
Tires and rims
Cigarettes
Glass (sheet, containers, misc)
Food products (Pre and post)
Plastic Flats (grocery and garbage bags)
Wood products (excludes cuttings)

(* He stated that paper products account for 60% of trash removed from roadways)


Next I asked in what order they are a problem. Here’s his list as to the order and why:

Paper soft – Just so much it’s unbelievable – worst than plastic bags
Paper hard – tons of it
Plastic Flats – Visible - easily blows around – gets in strange places
Cigarettes – everywhere, in everything – hard to remove
Glass – extremely hard to remove when shattered
Plastic container – lots of it but easy to remove
Construction material – generally scattered - unsightly
Food products – health issues
Tires and rims – unsightly
Wood products - distraction

In your drive around Puna, what would your list be?