Don’t Repeal Plastic Bag Ordinance
To the Editor:
I understand that the Newtown Legislative Council is considering repealing their Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance that was unanimously passed in 2018.
Why?
Prior to moving to Sandy Hook, I lived in Fairfield, CT and served for many years on the local legislative body. In 2009, with a bi-partisan group, we put forward a comprehensive reusable bag ordinance (single use plastic bag ban) that regrettably failed for all the “what about” and “what if” reasons that were never substantiated. It took ten more years of data collecting, discussions, and ten years of continued pollution of our water, air and land, before we could convince the whole body to support banning single-use plastic bags in our town. It passed unanimously in 2019. This was similar to the Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance in Newtown, that passed unanimously in 2018.
Soon after, Connecticut stepped up and banned single use plastic bags, which bolstered local ordinances. Again, none of the “what about” and “what if” reasons were ever substantiated since the ban went into place, and people understand to bring their own bags when shopping. The ordinance has not proven to be a hardship. It’s helped the environment in substantial and meaningful ways. I couldn’t imagine Fairfield going backwards to repeal an ordinance that’s reinforcing what the state has mandated.
Now Newtown wants to repeal the current plastic bag ban as being redundant and unnecessary. It’s as necessary as the handwashing signs in restrooms. Everyone knows it’s the right thing to do and they serve as a helpful reminder.
Local ordinances, such as the Single Use Plastic Bag Ban, help too. It’s an extra layer of protection, reminding the public that Newtown cares about its residents’ health and the environment as does the State of Connecticut. Repealing it is wrong, please don’t.
Thank you,
Heather Dean
Sandy Hook
An inaccuracy needs to be corrected. Newtown’s plastic bag ban ordinance was NOT passed unanimously. It was passed by the Legislative Council in 2019 along party lines–the 8 Democrats voted yes, while the 4 Republicans voted no.
I’m not sure how the determination was made that the ordinance “has not proven to be a hardship.” I remember being behind a frail, elderly woman in the checkout line at CVS post-bag-ban. As it used to be customary that CVS would put a customer’s items in a bag for them, I was saddened to watch as this woman and her helper both tried to juggle holding the many purchases in their arms as they headed to their car—I’m not sure how they managed getting into their car. I’d call that, and other examples like that, hardships. Each retailer in town had to update their checkout systems and processes to accommodate charging a 10-cent paper bag fee or risk being fined for each infraction, and if they weren’t using the newly-approved type of paper bag, they had to reorder and restock–hardships. I could go on.
For all these hardships, I’ve seen no evidence that the ordinance has, “helped the environment in substantial and meaningful ways,” nor even helped in any way. There were never any metrics defined to determine costs vs. expected benefits of the ordinance, nor was any environmental baseline determined from which to measure any hoped improvement.
It’s concerning to see people viewing the force of law as just a “helpful reminder.” This mindset has been devastating throughout history.