Banned in Brookline: Plastic Bags

After voting to ban Styrofoam food and drink containers, Brookline Town Meeting voted to prohibit supermarkets from using plastic check out bags on Wednesday night.

Clint Richmond, Town Meeting member, said that he hoped this vote would inspire statewide action against the unsustainable, environmentally unfriendly grocery bags.

The ban will prevent the use of plastic bags at the point of sale in December 2013.

Brookline Selectman Dick Benka called the ban “misguided” because while grocery stores are restricted, the new law does not target sandwich shops and convenience stores.

Other Town Meeting members expressed their opposition to this ban because of the convenience and the sanitary benefit plastic bags offer.

“I own dogs,” Gary Jones said. “Not lapdogs or little ones, mind you. I’m talking about mastiffs. Banning heavy volume plastic bags is a health concern. And I am not the only big dog owner in Brookline.”

While the concern of convenience was understood by all, the question of environmental effects won the day.

“In the end, we have to decided if we want to be a throw away society or if we want to have a planet for our children and our grandchildren,” Town Meeting member Andrew Fischer said.

After an hour and twenty-plus minutes of debate and discussion, the ban was approved by a vote of 142 to 53.