Darien Will Soon Vote on Ban of Plastic Bags Starting Monday

It will be decided whether Darien needs plastic bags or not as the members of the Representative Town Meeting will decide by next week if the ban in plastics should be imposed or not. The debate regarding the ban on plastic shopping and grocery bags has been going on for quite some time now, but it will all finally come to a rest when the RTM members will vote regarding the ordinance.

If the members vote in favor of the ban, then all the stores in the city will be given time for about 6-9 months to get rid of current stocks of plastic bags, before the ban is implemented. In case stores still offer plastic bags to shoppers then they will face fines up to $150. The Environmental Protection Commission will look after the enforcement process if and when the ban is imposed.

Environmental groups fighting for bag ban in Darien

The Darien group called Choose to Reuse has been constantly fighting for the ban on plastics by appearing before town councils, and also by educating the public regarding the dangers of plastics. Members of this group said that education alone isn’t enough and an ordinance to ban the plastic bags is extremely necessary to cut down the usage of these bags. Large chains of retail stores were cited by the group as examples wherein the corporate policies didn’t let them commit to the voluntary ban.

Opponents however, have said that banning the bags could hurt the stores in Darien and also drive business to the neighboring towns. Greg Palmer who owns the Palmer’s Market in the city said that he believes in the necessity to get rid of plastic bags and also encourages the customers to switch to wholesale reusable bags. Palmer also said that banning the bags out rightly, will definitely affect the business in the city.

Choose to Reuse suggest wholesale reusable bags and organic totes

As one of the founders of the group, Nina Millers likens the ban to laws banning smoking in public and requiring seatbelts. She said that if the ban is imposed in Darien it is likely that the other states will also follow and eventually there will be a country-wide ban. The group hopes for a positive result and are continuing to encourage residents to sign petitions in favor of the ban.

Source: http://darien.dailyvoice.com/politics/darien-vote-plastic-bag-ban-monday