HONOLULU -- State lawmakers have been working this session to come up with a bill they can agree on to reduce the use of single-use paper and plastic bags..

A bill to be heard by the House Environment Committee Thursday will slap a 5-cent fee on each plastic and paper bag a shopper uses to carry home purchases.

The goal of the fee for paper and plastic bags is to reduce garbage and litter as well as keep the bags out of the ocean where they are harmful to marine life.

Stuart Coleman of the Surfrider Foundation is a strong supporter of the measure along with the Sierra Club.

"It is a good bill because other than an outright ban, it is a way for people to choose whether they want to pay for bags or not. It is not a tax because you can choose not to pay it just by using a recyclable bag and bringing it to the store, " said Coleman.

Under the proposal, the store collecting the 5-cent per bag fee would keep 2 cents, and the remaining 3 cents would go to the state.

Shopper Marilyn Cristofori said she doubts if the proposed bag fee is enough of an incentive to get people to give up their single use bags.

"I am not sure if it would work. Some people might just grumble and then suck it up and pay the 5-cent fee for their bags," said Cristofori.

Retail and Food Industry associations prefer the fee per bag approach to an outright bag ban which they say would inconvenience and maybe even enrage their customers.

"We can live with the bill. It is a good bill for the retailer. It is a good bill for government, and if the consumer pays attention and reduces their consumption, it will be good for the consumer," said Dick Botti of the Hawaii Food Industry Association.

Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants Association, said, "Imposing a fee will still allow us to have options for our customers."

Pregill was concerned that the 5-cents-per-bag fee might be expensive for Hawaii's needy families who have to buy many bags of food for large families.