Pages
Stay In Touch
More
© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
While the use of plastic bags by retailers’ days may be numbered, some are also questioning the practicality of continued use of paper bags as well.
By Margaux Maxwell
Shoppers in nearby Cambridge started bringing their own shopping bags on March 31 when Cambridge became the largest East Coast City to enforce a ban on plastic bags. This fall, Somerville will enact its own ban on plastic.
The “Bring Your Own Bag” ordinance was passed on November 24, 2015 and will go into effect this August for establishments of 10,000 square feet or more and December for retail establishments of under 10,000 square feet. Under the ordinance, disposable plastic bags will be prohibited at the point of sale, making reusable bags or recyclable paper bags available instead. Businesses that do not comply will receive a first offense warning, second offence $50 fine, with third and subsequent offences incurring a $100 fine.
“[The ordinance] was unanimously passed because of the environmental concerns raised by the continued use of plastic bags,” said Alderman at Large William A. White, Jr.
David Jick, owner of Dave’s Fresh Pasta in Davis Square, known for their signature plastic take-out bags that tout their company name and logo, says he’s not looking forward to the ban. “I’d be excited if I thought paper bags were better for the environment but I think they still use of a lot of energy to produce, so they have drawbacks environmentally too,” said Jick.
Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne set in motion the proposal that led to the Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance which will be taking effect this coming August.
Some Somerville residents are pushing for a total ban on take-out bags, paper and plastic, and want to encourage all residents and visitors to bring their own canvas bags.
“The plastic bag ban is great because people need to be more careful about how they pollute the environment with plastic, and people are careful first about their money,” said Sequoia Ponzio-Young, 19, of Somerville. “So placing a price on the bags is useful, but I wish they would ban bags all together. Why doesn’t the city give out free canvas bags in order to prepare people for the ban? Or offer educational seminars on the environmental harm plastic causes?”
The Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance was drafted by the Law Office in consultation with Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne, who originally proposed the bill, and the Board’s Committee on Legislative Matters, chaired by Alderman at Large Mary Jo Rossetti. To date, nineteen communities in Massachusetts have bans on plastic bags, including: Amherst, Barnstable, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Falmouth, Great Barrington, Harwich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Nantucket, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Pittsfield, Provincetown, Somerville, South Hadley and Wellfleet.
A bill was put forth this month by Lori A. Ehrlich, Massachusetts State Representative of the Eighth Essex District, to enact a statewide ban that would eliminate non- biodegradable bags by 2017.
“We will seek to become the second state in the nation to pass a statewide ban of single use plastic grocery bags, which clog our gutters and storm drains, litter our sidewalks, and do harm to marine life. This legislation would encourage the use of durable, reusable grocery bags, following the lead of most other Western countries, which have kicked the plastic bag habit,” said Ehrlich.
If you found this article of interest, please consider sharing it.
So glad I’ll be able to shop at Wegman’s in Medford by August. That’s what this will do, drive people out of Somerville’s grocery stores. Stop and Shop in Medford is only 5 minutes from Stop and Shop in Somerville. I’ve read the research about the bacteria growth in re-usable grocery bags. I, for one, do not plan on using bags which will grow bacteria and must be washed regularly. Will you separate the bags you’ve used for meat from the bags you’ve used for produce?
i’m not looking forward to this. I reuse all my plastic grocery store bags for trash. What about when buying produce? Most people use those thin clear plastic bags. Not anymore? I want my meats separate from my produce. Washing my bags after every time I grocery shop is likely to waste more energy. I may have to go buy plastic bags for single use, which just shifts the problem they are trying to get rid of.
@ crazy person: first of all, you shouldn’t be buying/eating meat at all. Animal-based food production is the #1 cause of environmental damage, far worse than carbon emissions. Then there’s the animal cruelty issue, and of course the detrimental effects to your own health – not that you’re much use to the world anyway, judging from your comments. Most of this is for another discussion, which I’m sure you’re ready to chime in on with your misinformed opinions.
As for the main topic, you are of course completely wrong there too. If you’re too dumb and/or lazy to wash your shopping bags then you shouldn’t even be walking around.
Believe me, all the stores in Medford and pretty much everywhere will be phasing out of the plastic bags eventually, and sooner than later too.
Poor you. I’m sure you’ll be happier in Paraguay or Nigeria, or wherever else you move your sorry butt too. Just don’t expect to find any Wegman’s or Stop and Shops there. But please, do drink the water. Even the elimination of one tiny carbon footprint improves the world a little but. Baby steps, but it adds up.
Why august? Why not now. This has dragged on for too long. These retailers can make the transition overnight. Phony delays.
Rwanda is the leader in plastic bags.. its totally illegal to even have them there https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-eliminating-plastic-bags-in-rwanda-saves-liv-2/
Too many decisions made for me here which is why I no longer shop or get takeout food in Somerville. I will decide what I want or don’t want. This is still America.
Like MarketMan, I also recycle paper and plastic bags by using them for trash. If I have too many, I save them up and drop them off at the designated recycle bins you find at supermarkets and other stores.
Cloth bags are practical, but what happens if you don’t have enough cloth bags next time you shop? Not everyone buys the exact same amount of items all the time, or wants to be stuck with too many cloth bags because they occasionally needed one more.
People who shop out of banned areas still will bring plastic bags (and styrofoam) back into the city, so it won’t get rid of the problem entirely, especially if we all start hoarding them until they’re no longer available.
What’s next, then? Fine people who put those items in their trash? We can’t even put plastic bags or styrofoam in our recycling bins, so shouldn’t we be complaining that the city isn’t being environmentally conscious enough because they don’t give us the means to recycle those items, too? Make it easy for us to recycle and it won’t be an issue. It’s only an issue because many people don’t know what to do with them or it’s not convenient for them to recycle them along with our other waste items.
Banning plastic shopping bags in Somerville isn’t going to stop the sale of plastic trash bags, diaper disposal or dog poop bags. So, unless any and all types of plastic bags are banned nationwide, there’s not a lot that’s going to change or improve in the end.
It just seems that instead of taking responsibility and coming up with an improved recycling program, the city just decides to blame us and ban plastic bags outright rather than make an effort to find a way to incorporate them into the program. Much easier for them.
Coblepot is right. Animal based factory farming is killing the environment. Unfortunately, the most ignorant among us will be the last to see and admit it.
It’s sad how uninformed and selfish some people here seem to be, but hardly surprising, I guess. The landfill pollution problems created by these bags are undeniable. And yet, naturally, there will be deniers. BTW, if you’re so married to plastic there are plenty of reusable plastic bag options available. Very easy to turn them inside out and wipe them clean, however inconvenient that may be to you oh-so-busy, poor put upon people. So this whole rigamarole about shifting the problem, etc., is moronic. People sometimes have to be taken by the hand and forced to act responsibly. More often than not proactive legislation has to step in to force the right actions, sorry to say. A year from now this will be forgotten and you’ll have some new crackpot gripe to mouth off about. So sure. Pout and pretend you’ll be going out of town for your shopping. We know better. Be seeing you at Market Basket. Meantime, I’ll be embarrassed for you, since you’re obviously incapable of it.
Dick Tater: What do you use for trash bags? Do you use paper? cloth? I use plastic because it does the job best. Paper doesn’t work well for food waste. I am telling you that I rarely buy trash bags because I use the ones I get from shopping. But now that I won’t be getting them, I’ll have to go buy some… same amount of plastic bag waste from me. Some people don’t know how to see the bigger picture.
BTW: Your nickname is very appropriate.
Store bags are not formulated to break down in the landfills like actual trash bags are. They are built to last. The right ones may cost a bit (not that much really) but it’s the responsible thing to do. That’s why these laws are being enacted. People are not doing it voluntarily.
Market Boy,
Some people don’t really see the picture at all, big or small. Celia said it right. There’s no excuse for being cheap and not buying biodegradable bags. They don’t cost that much.
And thanks for the compliment. I think your posting handle is very apt as well. Now, get your butt down to the Market and buy yourself some proper trash bags. If you’re that poor we can launch a crowdfunding campaign for you. There are plenty of right-thinking people around who would be more than glad to help out.
No bags, simple solution. Let’s just do it and stop whining.
The lawmakers need to be working on matters of great concern to us as this country is going downhill fast. As far as the bags go my pet peeve is the stores handing them out. They should ask if you want a bag. I don’t need a bag for a single item. I will say Home Depot is getting better at asking. I have to grab my stuff fast before they put it in a bag. So much waste. I have Costco cold bags for meats and stuff which are easily cleaned. I have a hospital cleaner I use for my cpap to clean them. I have used my own bags for years as it is easier to carry stuff. That being said I still don’t want a nanny government.
Yes, and not only is one seldom offered a choice of getting bags or not, they usually use way too many. In the past I could go to one of these markets, buy 20 items, and walk out with nearly 20 bags. Just crazy. Naturally, I bring my own now. Hence the need to break this cycle via legislation. No one is voluntarily giving up this practice, neither retailer nor consumer.
BTW, it’s “nanny government” when you don’t like certain legislation, but it’s better than toast and jam when do you like it. Right? Of course right. Can’t cut it both ways. It’s a lame, “ditto-head” expression intended to discredit unpopular (to certain people) legislation. We live in a nation based on the rule of law, not some dystopian Mad Max state of anarchy. When a system is broken, the stakes are so high, and the urgency of timely action is so obvious, I expect my legislators to step in and take appropriate action. Too often they don’t, but this time they did. Good on them.
biodegradable bags: then force stores to carry that
Some bratty kids need nannying.
No need to force the stores. They’re in there. Please look into it.
Why not biodegradable/bioplastic plastic bags???
Then I could still use those for disposing of pet waste, diapers, and other things that I would rather not let sit around.