Hawaii Bans Plastic Bags

Hawaii is doing what California failed to: By 2015, single-use plastic bags will disappear from Hawaii's grocery stores.

Last Friday, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle signed a bill to ban the distribution of single-use plastic bags by July 1, 2015. While this was not a statewide bill, it was the last Hawaii county to pass a ban.

Maui County, Kauai County, and Hawaii County have all passed plastic bag bans, USA Today reports. Hawaii will be the first state to ban single-use plastic bags statewide, something California tried to do a while back.

There will be exceptions, though, like bags for dry-cleaning, live fish, prescriptions, and cleaning up after dogs. Grocery shopping, however, will probably be a tote bag errand.