ORANGE — Plastic bags may not be around much longer in Orange — with a few exceptions.
At the Annual Town Meeting on June 18, residents will vote on whether or not to ban plastic bags at all retail and grocery stores.
Exemptions for “bags used to contain dry cleaning, newspaper, produce, meat, bulk foods, wet items and other similar merchandise, typically without handles” are included in the warrant article.
Specifically, “thin-film single-use plastic bags shall not be distributed, used, or sold for checkout or other purposes,” and residents and grocers are both encouraged in the article to have reusable or biodegradable bags.
The article cites the damage plastic bags can cause, including the death of aquatic animals through “ingestion and entanglement,” clogging drainage systems, burdening waste collection and recycling facilities and polluting the land. Production also requires an inordinate amount of crude oil, the article states.
Orange business owners and managers have expressed mixed feelings about the potential ban, which would mandate fines of $25 for the second offense and $50 for the third and subsequent offenses.
Orange General Store manager Dhaval Patel said switching to paper bags would be inconvenient to both the store and its customers. At a store that sells groceries as well as liquor, plastic bags work best, he said.
“Paper bags just aren’t good,” Patel said. “If people come in here to buy groceries but then, since we also sell liquor, they buy beer or something, which is heavy, the paper will rip.”
Patel also said the idea of customers bringing their own bags every time they go to the store is unrealistic.
“We’re just waiting to see what happens,” Patel said.
But people like Paul Anderson at Trail Head Outfitters said his business has been proactive when it comes to decreasing plastic pollution.
“They’re just better, for recycling, for a lot of reasons,” Anderson said, before holding up a brown paper bag with twine handles.
Anderson said Trail Head stopped using plastic bags five years ago, mainly for environmental reasons.
On the other hand, at Highland Spirits liquor store, only paper bags are available, but a worker expressed that having plastic bags would be useful, especially if people are buying multiple items.
The plastic bag-banning article 34 was created via a petition signed by 12 registered voters, meaning the Selectboard had no part in putting it on the warrant. However, Selectboard Chairman Ryan Mailloux previously called the idea “great,” and said he supports the ban.
The vote comes at a time when other municipalities, such as Greenfield, are also discussing whether or not to ban single-use plastic bags. Neighboring Athol banned such plastic bags last summer, and, according to MassGreen.org, 79 communities across the state have instituted such bans.
Reach David McLellan at: dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.