In 2019, sixth-graders at Haines School asked the Haines Borough Assembly to pass a law prohibiting use of a certain type of plastic shopping bags (HDPE) that are not biodegradable, can’t be composted and are prone to cracking. These bags break down in our environment, are ingested by fish and seafood and accumulate in our bodies as microplastics. As this was reasonable legislation (15 other communities in Alaska have passed similar laws) the Haines assembly approved it as well.

All but one store in Haines has complied with the law, which protects us and our food from contamination. For years, the borough didn’t enforce the law, including because of wording in the borough’s ordinance that defined the bags as “single-use.” (Residents were re-using them as trash bags, etc.) At the prompting of the same sixth-graders (now college sophomores) who initiated the bag ban, the Haines Assembly recently rewrote the law to eliminate any ambiguity. The rewritten law allows for sale and distribution of all plastic bags except the ones with handles, usually milky-white in color. The law is up for final passage at Tuesday’s assembly meeting. Please contact your assembly members and ask them to support this common-sense legislation. 

We like to say that the future belongs to our children and that we want them to return to Haines as adults. Let’s start by honoring their vision for their hometown. 

Mayor Tom Morphet