Plastic bags in crosshairs
The convenience they love to hate
As Westport stores ready for a ban on plastic bags in mid-March, a town representative in the Connecticut General Assembly has renewed a call for a statewide ban, even as a colleague proposes a bag-use tax instead.
The Westport Representative Town Meeting (RTM) passed the law last September by a 26-5 vote. While Westport is known for its trendy Main Street enclave of upscale shops and boutiques that appear happy to adopt the new rules, the town also has a sizeable contingent of retail strip malls on its share of Route 1 that will have to make adjustments.
Rep. Kim Fawcett, who represents Fairfield and Westport in the Connecticut General Assembly, won little support for her bill last year to impose a statewide ban on plastic bags within two years.
Westport Rep. Joe Mioli filed a similar bill this month without immediately specifying a timetable. Mioli proposes a $150 fine on retailers who do not comply with his proposed law, identical to the penalty to be enacted this March by the Westport RTM.
Bridgeport Rep. Jack Hennessy has proposed a 5-cent tax on every bag given to a buyer, whether plastic or paper. Hennessy’s bill is not without precedent nationally – this month Seattle began charging 20 cents for each plastic bag used at checkout, according to the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE), which has an office in New Haven.
CCE notes that Westport is the first municipality east of the Mississippi to enact such a ban, although the Massachusetts island of Nantucket has allowed only biodegradable packaging materials in its stores since 1990.
Whole Foods is one Westport retailer that needs no introduction to plastic bag alternatives – a year ago last week, the Austin, Texas-based company became the first grocery chain in the nation to commit to eliminating the use of plastic bags, giving away more than 50,000 bags for free in January 2008.
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