Last week, after listening to the concerns of local business leaders, the Oak Bluffs board of selectmen voted unanimously, 5-0, to withdraw from the annual town meeting warrant voters will take up on Tuesday, April 12, a proposal to ban merchants from using thin, single-use plastic bags that are given to customers at the point of sale as of Jan. 1, 2017.
Instead, selectmen agreed that a committee comprised of business owners, town officials, and members of the Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS), which has spearheaded the ban, should be created to refine the bylaw before it is put on the next available town meeting warrant.
The selectmen’s failure to subscribe to the Island’s environmental orthodoxy generated sharp criticism — they had unanimously supported the measure in December. This turn of events, while unexpected and understandably disappointing to proponents of the ban, will provide all sides an opportunity to talk. What is wrong with that?
The practical effect will be slight. Plastic bags represent a small portion of the Island’s trash stream. The article can be placed on a special town meeting warrant, possibly in the fall. And the absence of an outright bag ban does not prevent VCS from continuing to use education to press consumers and business owners to change their habits.
Selectmen reversed course last Tuesday at a community forum at which a number of respected Oak Bluffs business leaders described the impact a ban would have on their businesses. Their concerns are real, and merited the thoughtful attention they received.
Business owner and former Oak Bluffs selectman Todd Rebello said the cost for bags would increase from about $1,500 to between $8,500 and $14,000. Mr. Rebello said the increase would cut into his already thin profit margin.
Robert Pacheco, owner of Reliable Market, a year-round Circuit Avenue anchor, said the ban would drastically increase his overhead costs. “Last year we purchased 548 cases of plastic bags at a cost of $14,300,” he said. “If they were paper, it would equate to 1,370 bales at $61 a bale; that would cost $83,500. That’s a lot of money.”
Because of the late date, which does not now allow for an article to be placed on the warrant by means of a citizen petition, some critics insinuated the selectmen purposely waited to take action on the article to undermine the political process. That is unfair to the five men and women who sit on the board — Gail Barmakian, Mike Santoro, Greg Coogan, Walter Vail, and Kathy Burton — who we may safely assume have no interest in watching plastic bags litter their home. The same is true for the Pacheco and Rebello families, who are part of the bedrock of Oak Bluffs.
Outright bans are tidy; banning is a lot easier than convincing. Supporters figured they would carry the day at town meeting, and now they must wait for another opportunity.
In the meantime, they could prevail on consumers to request an alternative to the offending thin plastic bags, or to carry their own shopping bags. And they ought to consider a campaign that targets those who litter indiscriminately — the roadways leading to the Regional Refuse District transfer station in Edgartown would be a good start.
Thin plastic bags are only a symbol. The larger issue is how we as a society will protect our environment. Meaningful change is best brought about when every effort is made to get people to buy into change.
“Let’s slow the process down and give us time to come up with a solution, together,” Mr. Rebello asked selectmen Tuesday night. It is a reasonable request.
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