Posted on 05/18/2016 12:38:03 PM PDT by pabianice
Shrewsbury, MA – In an event that took many people by surprise, voters at the May 16 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) voted to ban the use of plastic shopping bags in town.
The article, which has been submitted by citizen petition, had previously been rejected by both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee (FINCOM).
Missy Hollenback, representing Shrewsbury Recycling, first gave a detailed presentation, accompanied by color slides. She asserted that plastic shopping bags were a major recycling problem and that their long degradation life and habit of flying everywhere, even into tree tops, was a major problem. The Finance Committee then again recommended it be defeated as its effects upon and costs to town businesses was unknown, as was its efficacy.
The 90-minute presentation and following debate was dominated by voters who spoke against the article. Most of those opposed said that this article had been inserted into the warrant without enough notification, without support from either the Board of Selectmen or the Finance Committee, and with neither advice from nor notification to local merchants. Others said they preferred cloth or paper bags, but banning plastic bags in Shrewsbury would be futile since surrounding towns had not done so. Others said that without merchants being on board for this proposal, they would incur considerable expense and trouble in obeying the mandate.
Those few who publicly supported the article reasserted that this was being done, in large part, for the children, who were represented as being 100 percent onboard through teaching at the town schools and who would suffer in the future if the town did not now implement the ban. Others noted that Framingham and Natick were implementing such a ban. Another voter said that she had had a plastic bag stuck in the top of a tree in her yard for over a year and had no way to get it down. Still other voters chided the assembly for not being willing to bring their own reusable bags when shopping. Another controversy erupted between voters who claimed that reusable bags bred food poisoning while others said not so.
Still another voter questioned the operational execution of such a ban to which Town Manager Daniel Morgado replied that this would be something he, as “solid waste manager for the town,” would have to create and manage, especially since the Board of Health was not yet involved. Still another voted that he was concerned with the town’s banning anything, setting a precedent for more “big government.” Still another protested that banning plastic bags was not something merchants would have to honor.
After the long discussion, the question was moved and passed by the required 2/3 vote. The article itself was then voted upon and passes handily.
I live next door to this town... Say goodbye to my business.
Do it for the children!!
Here in West Hollywood they’ve banned plastic bags. They sell brown paper bags for 10 cents, or you can bring your own bag and use it. It’s not a terrible thing.
Here is a tidbit of information about plastic bags and stores. The reason they use plastic (and push it) is, they are a ton cheaper to make than paper bags. It has nothing at all to do with “saving the earth”. Stores would rather you go with plastic and they will preach how easy it is to recycle, how easy it is to carry your groceries, etc. Bottom line is the bottom line! Cheaper.
If you are feeling overcharged by your grocery store, demand paper bags! It cost them much more!
Weren’t plastic bags sold to the public as the ideal replacement for those ecologically-devastating paper bags that were deforesting the world? The new plastic bags were supposed to be biodegradable and far less wasteful.
Of course, as with every other liberal feel-good initiative, the reality never corresponded with the on-paper explanation. The UV-degrading bags were too expensive, so they disappeared quickly from stores, to be replaced with the ever-more-flimsy polythene bags we now see, which litter the landscape. And now we’re being asked to go to “reusable” bags, which have been shown over and over to be so thoroughly bacteria-laden that they pose a genuine health hazard to those who use them.
As is always the case, the liberals look for the most inconvenient and reality-ignoring solution, meanwhile trees are a prime example of a renewable resource; nothing more than a slower-growing crop (or, if you ask a farmer, a pernicious weed).
Whatcha gonna do with the dog poop then?
“I know! We just won’t pick it up!”
Now, they want them banned because they 'never go away'. What's next? Paper again? How about using all the cardboard boxes they stores' produce and product comes in. No bags but you get all the boxes you want.
It's amazing she was able to bear up under the strain...
What would be wrong with charging customers for paper bags? Plastic bags used to be tolerable, but now they’re so thin it’s a real annoyance.
You should save up your plastic bags and release them in Shrewsbury.
*snort*
Voting in austerity. Libs are insane and we’re doing nothing to stop them.
Thankfully won't survive the Apocalypse.
“no way to get it down”
There’s this thing called a chainsaw.
Not so long ago, my store gave you 2 cents off, for bringing your own. No more.
Why don't they makes arts & crafts from the old plastic?
The bag is not the problem. It’s people who let the bags blow around and get loose in nature. This ban is misplaced.
The was my question . It’s ok not to pick up poop - it’s natural.
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