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Sunday, January 13, 2013

Some fear "bag-lash"

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff

BARRINGTON — Barely a week into Rhode Island's first plastic bag ban, there’s no shortage of opinions on the law from local businesses and shoppers.

Some interpret the ban on plastic checkout bags as a win for the environment; others cry government overreach.

“Unwanted invasion of government,” said a Shaw’s customer, who declined to give his name, as he walked briskly through the parking lot of the town’s main shopping center.

John Bergmark of Bristol said the switch to paper is a step toward reducing society’s excessive reliance on disposable plastic. “I think it’s a good beginning,” he said.


“I’m all for it,” local resident Tristan Barako, a devotee of reusable bags, said.

Although none of the town’s retailers charge a fee for paper bags, Barako favors adding a 5- or 10-cent charge on bags to hasten the public shift toward sustainable bag use. “I think it’s wasteful to use a bag once and throw it out,” he said.

Vickie Olsen, co-owner of Miz Fibz Deli & CafĂ©, spoke against the ban during Town Council hearings on the proposed law last year. She and husband Scott Olsen are committed recyclers, but prefer to see consumers and innovation decide the future of plastic bags. “Let the private sector do it. It’s much better than the government,” she said.

Olsen noted that paper bags also impose a significant expense on small businesses. A box of 1,000 plastic grocery bags cost less than $20, she said. Paper bags cost some $200 per 1,000.

George Tamer, owner of Center Ace Hardware, said he’s “eating” the added cost of paper bags. “I cannot in my right conscience charge 10 cents or a nickel for bags. It doesn’t seem right to me.”

Tamer supports the ban on plastic bags. He’s handed out nearly 2,000 reusable bags during the past few months to prepare his shoppers for the switch. So far, he said, only two customers needed an explanation about the bag ban. Otherwise, he said, “I’ve had no problem with customers.”

Some shoppers mentioned hearing of residents switching to grocery stores with plastic bags in nearby East Providence and Seekonk, Mass., as a protest or “bag-lash” against the ban and, specifically, the Shaw’s grocery store.

Shaw’s, the town’s only supermarket, surprised many by announcing a voluntary phase out of plastic bags in the midst of Town Council hearings on the ban. Shaw’s spokesman Steve Sylven said customers expressed a preference for paper bags with handles, but otherwise the store’s transition to paper and reusable bas has been smooth.

CVS, a mainstay in the town shopping plaza for some 30 years, said it would comply with the bag ban as it has for similar bans across the country. Spokesman Michael DeAngelis declined to detail the cost of switching to paper. A possible statewide ban wouldn't be overtly opposed by CVS, he wrote in an e-mail. “We do not take public positions on bans of this type. Our policy is to comply with all local laws and regulations.

Town Council President June Speakman said she’s not aware of any stores violating the ban, nor heard any complaints from residents. At its Jan. 7 meeting, the Town Council voted to have the Conservation Commission track and deliver periodic reports on the impact of the bag ban.

The ordinance expires in two years unless the council reinstates it. And with other communities considering their own bag bans and an expected bill in the General Assembly seeking a statewide ban there is sure to be much attention paid to what happens in Barrington.