Hawai'i's people have discussed recycling for years and with good intentions, but that conversation needs a change in tone.

The sentences have to begin with "we must," rather than "we should."

We must reduce our waste stream, unless this state wants ultimately to convert its beautiful islands into refuse barges.

We must be serious about it, too, because time won't stand still while we get our act together.

Managing garbage always has been the job of local governments, but if people want a stronger environmentalist ethic brought to that job, a fire has to be lit beneath the feet of key leaders. In California, where that ethic has been achieved in the past 16 years, state lawmakers were the ones to light the fire.

This state can't simply mirror the California experience — the needs of an island chain are quite different, and vary from place to place — but we can apply the key lesson here. Reducing waste has to be a revolution for the entire state, and it is state government that has to drive that revolution.

Recycling is now second nature to most Californians, to cite that state's example, but it wasn't always so. The trigger was AB 939, The Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, a state law that took effect in 1990.

It was, effectively, a mandate that pressed all local governments in the state to reduce waste by 25 percent in five years and 50 percent in a decade.

The law is generally viewed as a success story, although it's only been about a year that the final reduction benchmark was achieved.

It was left up to each county or municipality to devise a plan for better waste management, covering everything from hazardous waste disposal to reclaiming reusable elements from the refuse stream.

Curbside recycling was not the solution preferred in every case. But in cities where it was practical, waste hauling companies and agencies discovered that it was a popular choice, said Kent Stoddard, a public policy liaison with the private company Waste Management Inc., a key player in the California movement.

The reason: Convenience is the key ingredient of success. The easier garbage haulers made it to recycle, Stoddard said, the more people participated.

Byron Sher, the former Palo Alto state senator who sponsored the bill, said the law also turned the state's part-time waste board into a full-time state agency that made sure local governments delivered on the required waste-reduction plan. Although they were never implemented, fines were in place to keep local governments on track, he said.

Local governments were given no funds to fulfill the mandate, but they did have authorization to charge a fee to support waste management. The revenue raised from the recyclables — the "scrap value" — wasn't enough to underwrite costs, Stoddard said.

Cities and counties took various tacks to make up the difference. One might assess specific recycling or green waste fees; others would charge households rubbish fees according to the amounts of unrecycled waste they put out, subsidizing the cost of their recycling operation in this way.

Eventually, he said, hauling companies realized they could cover the costs and became less resistant and, finally, enthusiastically compliant.

To some extent, Hawai'i has begun the process through the enactment of the bottle bill, an attempt to create a financial incentive for voluntary recycling efforts. The bottle bill has had some success, owing partly to the nonprofits that have embraced it as a fundraiser. And on O'ahu, green waste collections have been increased through a city initiative.

But in both campaigns, residents' buy-in has been spotty. Until recycling becomes mandatory throughout the state, participation will never reach the necessary level. Old habits — wasteful habits — are going to die hard.

It will take a change in culture to make recycling seem as natural a habit in Hawai'i as it is in California and elsewhere. Above all, it will take a push from leadership at the state level, and we should begin that push now, during this legislative session. Clear mandates must be created and enforced by the state and strengthened by a strict timeline for results.