As the sun beat down in Iwilei on a recent afternoon, the wheel of a battered Costco shopping cart kept catching on gravel as an older man pushed it across the street.
The cart was packed with Campbell鈥檚 aluminum food cans, a dirty blanket and an aging manila folder. Each time a wheel snagged, the man adjusted his stride into an awkward side limp and kept trudging forward.
When a reporter asked what the cart meant to him, he glanced down at it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like my walker,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t helps keep me upright.鈥�
A new proposed law would make the man鈥檚 possession of the shopping cart illegal. Under , those using shopping carts outside the premises of a store can face fines up to $2,000 or up to 30 days in jail, and their carts could be confiscated.
The bill鈥檚 introducer, Honolulu Council Chair Tommy Waters, says the measure is needed to curb shopping cart theft and abandonment.
In a state with one of the nation鈥檚 highest rates of homelessness, the bill is reigniting a long-running debate between those who say they want to contain a public nuisance and those concerned about criminalizing poverty. As of this year, there were more than 2,300 people living on O驶ahu鈥檚 streets, according to the latest
Supporters, including retailers, law enforcement officials and some residents, say the bill would help recover stolen property and address shopping carts that obstruct sidewalks, bus stops, parks and waterways. While shopping carts are often found within sidewalk homeless encampments, they鈥檙e also sometimes brought home and then ditched by shoppers who don鈥檛 want to carry their groceries by hand. As of 2024, Walmart in Kapolei had hired a man offering a to combat this problem.
Critics argue the proposal would disproportionately affect homeless residents who rely on shopping carts to transport and store their belongings, while failing to address the root causes of homelessness.
The man Civil Beat observed on the street, who did not give his name, objected to the idea.
鈥淚 need my cart,鈥� he shouted. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 take it away from me.鈥�
The bill passed a first reading on Aug. 12. Members Scott Nishimoto, Val Okimoto, Augie Tulba and Matt Weyer supported Waters鈥� bill. Radiant Cordero and Esther Kia驶膩ina voted aye with reservations. Tyler Dos Santos Tam was absent.
Council Chair Wants To Crack Down
Abandoned shopping carts have become an increasing challenge for both retailers and neighborhoods across O驶ahu, according to Waters.
鈥淪hopping carts can end up in public spaces for a variety of reasons, but when they are left behind, they can create safety hazards by obstructing sidewalks and clogging our streams and impose unnecessary costs on grocery stores and local retailers,鈥� he said in a statement.
The bill states that carts left on sidewalks and near bus stops can obstruct wheelchair users, block access to transit and force pedestrians into roadways to navigate around them.
Honolulu Police Maj. Paul Okamoto, who supervises the Waik墨k墨 district, said shopping carts contribute to public safety and health issues.
鈥淧eople just throw shopping carts and trash all into the streams,鈥� Okamoto said. 鈥淚t clogs our waterways.鈥�
Dave Erdman, interim president & CEO of the Retail Merchants of Hawai驶i, said shopping carts are valuable business property that can cost hundreds of dollars to replace and should be treated like any other item removed from a store without permission.
鈥淥nce those carts are taken off their property and not returned,鈥� he said, 鈥渇rom the retailer鈥檚 viewpoint they鈥檙e deemed stolen.鈥�
The police department argues that the bill would close what it sees as a gap in enforcement. While officers regularly recover shopping carts, they currently have limited ability to penalize people who possess them unless a retailer is willing to pursue a theft case.
鈥淭he reality is that the retailer does not have time for that, nor do they want to spend more resources prosecuting or driving around collecting their carts,鈥� Okamoto said. 鈥淲e are stuck in this area where there is really no disincentive against removing these carts from private property and people taking them for their own private use.鈥�
Tim Gary, a Kaimuk墨 resident who spent more than 40 years working in the supermarket industry, said those losses can add up quickly.
鈥淎nd people wonder why their grocery prices keep going up,鈥� Gary said. 鈥淭hat is one of the reasons.鈥�
Critics Say It Penalizes Poverty
Critics say that the bill addresses a symptom of homelessness rather than the conditions that create those circumstances.
Angie Knight 鈥� a former community relations manager for the Institute for Human Services, a homeless services provider 鈥� said unsheltered people rely on their carts.
鈥淭ypically shopping carts are the easiest way to move their belongings,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey also need their belongings with them 24/7.鈥�
She said many homeless residents are constantly relocating and have few alternatives for storing their possessions.
鈥淧eople have to pick up everything that they have and move on to the next place.鈥�
Resident Jonathan Huynh, who testified against the bill, said it seems punitive.
鈥淢y first thought when I saw this bill was that this bill seems to, you know, want to put people in jail just for being poor,鈥� Huynh said. 鈥淲e want to help these people, but I think this bill really just hurts them instead.鈥�
Okamoto said many of the people using shopping carts on the street struggle with mental illness, substance abuse or other challenges that require professional support. He said it is not productive to look the other way instead of trying to steer them toward professional help.
鈥淏ecause the alternative is that we don鈥檛 do anything, right? We have soft hearts,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to see people suffering. And a lot of people think, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 we just leave them alone and let them stay in the parks or on our sidewalks?鈥� But I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 compassionate.鈥�
Knight of the Institute for Human Services says the ordinance risks punishing poverty rather than solving the conditions that lead people to rely on shopping carts.
鈥淚鈥檝e been saying it鈥檚 criminalizing poverty for years,鈥� she said. 鈥淯p to 30 days incarceration essentially means it鈥檚 a green light for the police just to pick people off the street and put them somewhere else in broad daylight.鈥�
She added: 鈥淭hen that person is now separated from their belongings, their medications, their identification papers. All of those things are detrimental to the process of housing somebody.鈥�
Huynh questioned the effectiveness of the proposal to fine individuals who won鈥檛 be able to pay and whether enforcement would ultimately cost taxpayers more than the value of the carts themselves.
The average cost to house an inmate in Hawai驶i is around $112,000 a year, which translates to over . That鈥檚 double the national average, making Hawaii one of the most expensive states for incarceration.
鈥淚 feel that this bill may tackle cosmetics,鈥� he added. 鈥淲hen we attack cosmetics, for example, pulling homeless people from the streets, that鈥檚 not solving the issue, which is housing affordability and all the stuff that causes homelessness.鈥�
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