This year our class was able to take part in Project Citizen, a challenge very different from our usual assignments. We weren’t just dealing with something involving our class, but with something that could change our local communities and possibly impact our state, nation and world.
We first spent a few days researching various problems we saw in our community and presenting our topics to each other. We then voted and narrowed the topics down to the one we felt most strongly about, which was plastic bags. For us plastic bags are a problem we encounter locally almost every day. To many around the world, Hawai‘i seems like the perfect paradise, but plastic bags are hurting our fragile island environment. The unsustainable bags are given by various supermarkets, stores, and restaurants in excess, and many end up polluting and destroying our surroundings.
Civil Beat is the largest news organization dedicated exclusively to civic affairs journalism in Hawaii. It is where you can learn about, understand, debate and discover the important issues facing our community.
P.S. Pierre Omidyar, CEO & Publisher