It was a full house at last night’s public hearing for the Easton Town Council’s proposed single-use plastic ban ordinance. The ban would prohibit the use of plastic bags at the point of sale. Jeff Harrison, president of the Talbot Watermen Association, started off the public hearing with an impassioned plea to protect the watershed that he and other watermen work in every day–and that we all enjoy as a given on the Eastern Shore. He said the plastic bag problem has grown worse in the last 4-5 years by ten-fold. “Those bags don’t disappear. They just pile up. We have a problem with these bags.”
Also speaking was Alan Girard, Eastern Shore Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, who described worrying studies about how plastic bags impact human health and threaten our watershed. “Microplastics are detectable at every single one of the bay watershed’s 126 water quality monitoring stations. This means that microplastics are not only in our bay, they’re throughout our rivers and streams.” Citing another study, he said, “Microplastics ingested by oysters trick them into thinking they’re getting too much food, when, in fact, they’re not getting enough”, starving and threatening our oyster population.
“Plastics are not good for human health,” Girard said, pointing to studies that indicated that four million microparticles of plastic are sent daily into the watershed from each of the bay’s 516 water treatment facilities. These facilities cannot filter out these smaller particles. Microplastics are detectable in sea bass which you ingest when you eat them. Worse, Girard said, “Microplastics for the first time are found in human blood.” Eighty percent of participants in that study had microplastics in their bloodstream.
Girard said that finding a solution to the plastics problem is finding a policy that balances human and environmental costs against the inconvenient cost of reducing plastic bags. “This bag ban is one of those inconvenient things. Yes, you got to bring your tote bag. But in terms of the benefits, it’s clearly a decision you can make for the environment, for the health of our citizens and for all of Maryland.”
Plastic-Free Easton’s Elaine Tama asked council members to consider adding a provision to the ordinance to require store owners to charge a fee for paper bags. Tama said, “It levels the playing field and retailers won’t undercut competitors by offering free paper bags. It is better for the environment, since paper bags are made from trees. And having a customer pay for paper bags will reduce the number of trees used.”
Sarah Price from the Maryland Retailers Association also urged the council to consider adding a fee mandate to the ordinance. “This particular proposal does not include a fee on paper bags. Generally, I assume that these proposals are intended to curb consumer behavior and to encourage people to bring their own bags–not just transition from one type of disposable bag to another.” Price also concurred with Tama’s point about keeping retailers on the same level of competitively.
Melvin Thompson of the Restaurant Association of Maryland requested that the council exempt restaurants from the ban due to concerns about leaks when conveying wet food items.
The council also heard from Amy Kreiner, president of the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce. She said the Chamber opposes the ordinance as an “unfair burden” especially on smaller businesses. She said “not one stated they would pass on the cost of bags to their customers” but instead would absorb the cost. Alternatively, the Chamber “recommends increased informational campaigns encouraging the public to reduce their use of single-use plastics whenever possible and on the virtues of recycling the bags they do consume.” Kreiner also talked about contributing plastic bags to Trex, a manufactured wood products company based in Virginia. The Chamber would encourage the public to participate in a program to get a free Trex bench for plastic bags. Elaine Tama in her rejoinder to Kreiner’s remarks noted that participants would have to gather 40,500 bags (500 lbs.) within a 6-month period, “you would need to weigh the bags and transport them to Winchester VA, and set up receptacles around town. We don’t really support that. We don’t want to encourage using more bags than we already have.” Elaine also reiterated that imposing a mandatory fee on paper bags would relieve the burden of cost on retailers.
The evening also included impassioned testimony from Easton residents who support the ban, sharing their concern about the environmental and health impacts of plastics. It was a full evening and there’s more to come. The next public hearing on the proposed ordinance is Monday, June 20, at the regular town council meeting.
Plastic-Free Easton is a citizen-led effort to reduce plastics pollution in Easton. Don’t use plastic bags provided at the store. Use your reusables.
Marion O Arnold
Plastic-Free Easton
Christopher Rigaux says
I support the ban on single-use plastic bags. I lived in Montgomery County when we transitioned away from plastic bags. Consumers quickly adjusted to carrying totes in their cars for shopping. Retailers found a new source of revenue by selling attractive re-usable totes with their company name and logo. Many non-profits jumped on board by selling totes to support their cause. Although many expressed concern that the transition would be difficult, it really wasn’t. A minor inconvenience for such a major environmental impact. Go green.
Michael Davis says
The local Chamber of Commerce should look at Fairfax County, Virginia. Over a million people live there and it has a reputation for being very business-friendly. They have a 5-cent tax on customers who want plastic bags. The business has to pass the cost to the customer. Further, the business must account for that tax collection and report it to the state of Virginia- an accounting burden. The money collected for the plastic bags can only be used for:
Environmental cleanup programs,
Pollution and litter mitigation programs,
Educational programs on environmental waste reduction,
Provision of reusable bags to recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) benefits.
If the Chamber cannot live without plastic bags, they should at least support a tax on them. Doing nothing about a major destructive source of permanent pollution should not be an option.
Marion O Arnold says
I think what gets lost in the conversation is the fact that the proposed plastic bag ordinance is meant to address a real public and environmental health issue. We can’t recycle our way out of the problem because recycling plastic is a problem, a failure, in fact. Let’s also remember that an important benefit of reducing plastic bags in our landscapes and waterways is economic. A clean environment and a pristine watershed is not only good for us, but it’s good for business.
Gretchen Celestino says
I just returned from a week in Paris, France where plastic bags have been banned for some time. Retail stores, including grocery provide no bags, period. If you don’t bring your own bag, you carry your items away in your hands, pockets, purses, etc. I know this because it happened to me! Parisians know it too and deal with it beautifully by bringing their own reusable bags. If they can do it, certainly we should be able to.
Marion O Arnold says
I have a couple of reusable bags that roll up into a small pouch that easily fits into a purse or pocket. They are great for traveling!
Marion O Arnold says
In case you missed the meeting Monday night, here’s a link to the video covering the proposed plastic bag ordinance:
https://youtu.be/180YErj1CEw
Deirdre LaMotte says
The Chamber? What does one expect? It is business as usual
and one can forget the impact on anything but $$$$
Banning plastic bags is common sense. Like decent gun restrictions.
Good luck with either.