Tewksbury Town Meeting will consider repealing a plastic shopping bag ban that it passed last fall, Patch reports here and WCVB reports here.. Are there any bans that Newton should repeal?
Tewksbury may bag bag ban. Should Newton ban any of its bans?
by Village 14 | Apr 23, 2019 | Newton | 9 comments
Yes, every one of them!
I’m 78 years old and have been taking my own reusable bags whenever i go shopping and refusing plastic bags at grocery stores, etc., for about 12 years now, ever since i came to realize how incredibly polluting and stupid plastic shopping bags are after a trip to Uruguay, where I saw thousands and thousands of plastic grocery store bags, many from U.S. stores, washed up on the otherwise gorgeous beaches there! Using you own reusable bag(s) is not a burden at all and i intend to continue doing it regardless of this ‘ban the bans’ nonsense.
Ban the overnight parking ban!
Banning is part in parcel of the mindset of the vast majority of our Aldermen and their supporters. These are people whose narcissism is matched only by their lack of technical expertise or creative thinking on just about any topic facing Newton. Rather than focussing on solving issues that truly matter (e.g., the state of our roads or many of our school buildings, managing the impact of development that will come one way or another in the next decade), these folks spend an inordinate amount of time and effort playing Don Quixote. The impact of any of these bans on what are generally global problems is effectively zero. While our elected officials (and their enablers in the electorate) may feel oh so self righteous by their actions, in effect, they are doing nothing, except of course to make the lives of everyone else in Newton just a bit more constrained.
So what could they do:
1) Provide incentive for citizens to act well. Take the bag issue. Why not a plan to phase out plastic and perhaps paper bags while at the same time have the town provide families with reusable bags funded of course from the fees from the paper bags? Initially each address would be provided $N$ bags for free. Once a year, they would be provided the opportunity to trade in these soiled bags for new ones. At least this way, people have the option of not being financially burdened by the useless do-gooderism of our Aldermen.
2) The could organize like-minded individuals within the city to act at a geographic level where some substantive difference could be made. Maybe the state, perhaps regionally, certainly nationally.
All told, bans are an option for small minded people obviously lacking a capacity for creative solutions to complex problem. It is a testament to Newton that such is an apt description of all too many of our elected representative and of course the voters supporting them.
Elmo – Find me an instance where this has worked to solve any ecological or safety problem: “Provide incentive for citizens to act well.”
I, too, wish everyone would be kind and thoughtful, but there is a reason we need the Police to prevent crime, the FBI/HLS to prevent terrorist attacks, environmental regulations to protect the environment, safety regulations so vehicles don’t explode during fender benders, etc. Plastic bag bans have been a minor inconvenience for some and a huge environmental benefit for all living things.
Also, if you look at the history of change, it starts at the local level and percolates up.
I agree with Lucia. And, I will add that I have watched some National Geographic films on the state of plastics in the ocean and the images are stomach churning. Yes, in the scale of the entire planet, what we do in Newton is less than a drop of water in the ocean. But I also believe in setting an example and teaching by doing. To paraphrase what I believe to be a Native American proverb (invitation to correct me there), we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. Indeed, we borrow it from future generations. I can now look at the trees in bloom on the Carriage Lane and amoung the leaves I no longer see plastic bags wrapped around the branches. And that, my friends, I think is progress. Very small, perhaps infinitesimal, but progress nonetheless.
Happy Spring to all.
I don’t believe that local officials should have the power to ban consumer products that are regulated at a higher level. Consumers have a right to buy these products, and banning them undermines that right. In the case of leaf blowers specifically, the City Council passed restrictions that I enthusiastically supported. The city did not “ban” leaf blowers.
Banning packaging like plastic bags is a little trickier , because local merchants are making a decision that might not be in the best interest of Newton’s environment. Local elected officials are responsible for Newton’s environment, and they should have the authority to take action in the city’s best interest. I personally don’t support the plastic bag ban. I think it’s anti-consumer. But I acknowledge the City Council’s authority to pass it.
What I see as particularly problematic, is that many of these bans are driven by personal agendas that have little to do with Newton specifically. And I don’t think the people of Newton are well served when the public officials they elect [and pay] focus on issues outside the City boundaries.
While I use my own reuseable bags, I don’t like that the Council spends its time on this. There are so many issues within our city that NO one else cares about:
Senior Housing
Senior Center
Lack of a Rec Center for the Community
Roads
Firefighters
Police
Open space within Newton
Making our parks better for all
Parking in our city – overnight parking year round? Meters are in the Newton Center but not in Waban -why?
The Library
City Hall
More Arts and Music in the schools
Transportation in our own city – subway, commuter rail, busses, ubers that literally stop in the middle of the road to pick up and drop off,
Bike transportation within our city
The above is a small list of things that no one outside of Newton is going to help us with. Please make Newton vibrant.
Ban the TAB until they agree to stop littering my yard every Wednesday!