The Marines are going green.

The base exchange, or department store, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe stopped using plastic shopping bags starting on New Year's Day, encouraging patrons to use reusable bags.

The Marines' next target: phasing out plastic shopping bags at the commissary, or supermarket, which uses 200,000 plastic bags a month. The market is patronized by the 15,000 Marines and dependents living on the base, as well as numerous Windward Oahu military retirees with access to the facility.

It is all part of the Marine Corps' effort to have the 3,000-acre Windward Oahu facility and its Marines be “;lean, green fighting machines”; and energy self-sufficient by 2015, says Col. Robert Rice, who commands Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Rice said he has asked vendors on the base, such as Subway and McDonald's, to join in the “;green”; effort.

Reusable canvas and recycled materials shopping bags are being sold on the base as alternatives to plastic bags.

During a briefing last week at the annual Hawaii-U.S. Military Partnership Conference sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Rice said he also encourages the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs—which proponents say use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer—by making only that type of bulb available at the exchange and commissary.

“;Last year, Marine Corps Base Hawaii paid $23 million for our electric bill,”; Rice said. “;That was about twice what we budgeted for the year. It's about a third of our operating budget. That's a lot of money to spend on our electric bill.”;

Rice said officials at Hawaiian Electric Co. have told him that 80 percent of last year's bill was fuel cost.

”;Last year, Marine Corps Base Hawaii paid $23 million for our electric bill. ... That's a lot of money to spend on our electric bill.”; Col. Robert Rice / Commander, Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe

As part of its energy initiatives, the base will spend nearly $13 million over two years on renewable energy and water conservation projects, said Rice.

The goal, Rice added, is to require all new construction projects at Kaneohe Bay to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, meaning the new buildings will cost less to operate and maintain and be energy- and water-efficient.

The Marine Corps also will spend $50 million, Rice added, on a multifuel-capable generation plant and a solar array field, which will generate half of Kaneohe's energy needs of 13 to 20 megawatts. Construction is slated to begin late this year. Military installations are required under a 2007 federal law to produce or procure 25 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025.

Energy research projects at Kaneohe include a plastics-to-fuel conversion facility, which has the potential to convert 115 tons of used plastics into 27,482 gallons of diesel fuel annually.

Rice said the Marines do not have enough plastic waste to run the facility, so it plans to seek partners such as Hickam Air Force Base. It also is studying the feasibility of converting used tires into diesel fuel using the energy created by waves off Mokapu Peninsula, as well as using solar energy trapped by the ocean to generate electricity for the base. Another study involves converting the base's fleet of sedans to electric vehicles.

In addition, Kaneohe Bay will reduce its current twice-a-week trash pickup in its family housing areas to once a week, replacing the second trash pickup with a pickup for recyclable materials starting next month.