Saying Good-Bye to Plastic Shopping Bags

By Laura Onyeneho

In November 2015, the Somerville Board of Alderman approved a ban on plastic shopping bags to encourage solid waste reduction, protect marine environment, and waterways. Once the ban begins, retail establishments will have to find alternatives to plastic shopping bags at checkout points.

The ordinance will be implemented in a two-tier roll out beginning September 1st  for businesses of more than 10,000 square feet, and December 1st for smaller retail establishments.

The city held two information sessions for business owners at city hall in May. Maxwell MacCarthy, Urban Revitalization Specialist for the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning told Somerville Neighborhood News the city’s goal is to help business owners reach compliance, not punish them.

“If an inspector sees that you are using plastic bags that are not allowed under the ordinance, you’ll first get a warning,” he said, “They give you 14 days to comply. If you have another complaint or some issue, it will be a $50 fine and then it will escalate to a hundred.”

James Kontos owner of McKinnon’s Meat Market in Davis Square, is preparing for the December deadline. He recently found himself on the consumer side of a similar ban. “I was at Staples the other day to pick up some stuff in Cambridge, and they told  me that I had to pay for the bag. Ten cents,” he said,“I hope the customers are receptive to that.”

Cambridge recently became the largest municipality in Massachusetts to pass a plastic bag ban ordinance. Customers have the option to bring their own reusable bags or pay ten cents for a paper bag at check out. In Somerville, paper bags will be offered free of charge.

Porter Square Books in Cambridge has received some backlash due to the ban, but not from local residents. “The only time we get push back is sometimes from people who are from out of town,” said bookseller Jessica Jordan, “If people come from Texas or something and they’re like ‘I’m buying four books and I can’t get a bag?”

Joe Amaral, Store Manager of Market Basket on Somerville Ave. says the supermarket will be offering customers alternatives at check out. “We provide the boxes at the checkout areas, so they can have those free,” he said. “We still provide the paper bags, so those are free. So it isn’t like your hands are tied, there are a couple of options.”

Many larger stores already have reusable shopping bags for sale and some offer discounts for bringing your own bags.

You can watch SNN online at somervilleneighborhoodnews.org or Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. on SCATV Ch.3.