The Hawaii State Legislature is considering a bill to that effect Ban single-use plastic items in hotels, and encourage establishments to provide bulk dispensers for amenities such as shampoo, conditioner and soap.
Larger hotel chains can use hundreds of millions of these small, mostly plastic toiletries every year.
ADVERTISING
hot right now
“As a notable tourism destination here in Hawaii, we also really have an opportunity to put our money in the right direction when we talk about how important the environment is and how Hawaii wants to commit to more sustainable tourism,” Rep. Nicole said Lowen (D), Chair of the House Energy & Environmental Protection Committee.
The industry is already starting to switch to these more sustainable options due to corporate environmental policies and the lodging industry appears to be supporting this.
“Certainly the spirit of this particular bill or set of legislative measures is something that we don’t really have a problem with,” said Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association. “It’s all about the right timing. It’s about making sure they understand that every hotel chain and every hotel brand is different.”
landfills one Hawaii are filling up and the government is looking at ways to fix the problem. More than 300,000 pieces of single-use plastic are used by a kind of general four-star, 200-room hotel every month, the Surfrider Foundation Hawaii found, according to a study.
The bill would ban hotels with 50 beds or more from handing out personal care products in small plastic bottles to properties with fewer than 50 beds in 2024 and 2025.
