Southold resident David Markel has a story for the town board Tuesday night. A story about a turtle named Morris.
Markel said he’d met Morris on the side of the road in town recently The turtle, he said, told him, “What’s important is that you protect my brethren, the sea turtles. Do what you can stop them from using plastic bags.”
He asked what the point was of holding a recent community forum, if no action was going to be taken. “What was the purpose of the meeting, to placate the environmental people so they don’t show up en masse? Are you pandering to the business people?”
Markel said he and others have been out gathering signatures in support of the plastic bag ban in town. “People want this bag on plastic bags,” he said, handing 100 petitions to the town board. Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the total number of petitions handed in had not yet been tablulated.
Russell said he’d spoken to Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, who told him she had been “getting some momentum” regarding the proposed initiative. Riverhead, meanwhle, remains “split,” Russell said, with Supervisor Sean Walter looking like “the swing vote”.
The supervisor added that he’s reached out to local business owners. “To their credit, they recognize the necessity of doing something, but they are facing eight times the operation cost of going from plastic to paper. It’s a concern for them, one we have to listen to,” Russell said.
Resident Benja Schwartz said there wasn’t “a single person attending the forum” who did not support the ban. He asked why the town had to wait for the other East End towns to come to consensus. “I think the voice of the public was unanimous,” he said. “Southold Town should ban plastic disposable bags.”
Earlier this month, residents spoke out in support of the proposed plastic bag ban, which many felt would prove beneficial to the Southold Town community.
The community forum, organized to garner public input on the possible ban of plastic bans in Southold Town, brought together panelists including Kevin Shannon of the Southold Business Alliance, Debbie O’Kane of the North Fork Audubon Society, Charles Reichert of IGA, Bill Toedtler of North Fork Environmental Council, Rosemary Batcheller of The Village Cheese Shop and Bob DeLuca of Group for the East End,
According to a release issued by Southold Town, recently, the East End Supervisors and Village Mayors Association proposed a regional approach to ban the use of plastic bags at retail establishments on the East End.
Although environmentalists have long proposed a ban of single-use plastic bags some local businesses fear the approach could have far-reaching effects on their businesses, and efforts to ban plastic bags for the entire county have been futile, the town said.
“It was a very good discussion,” Russell said in an email after the meeting. “Most of those in attendance supported the ban.”
Suggestions were made, the supervisor added, that would encourage store owners to offer incentives to customers who used reusable bags. There was also a discussion on the idea of imposing a surcharge on all bags that would amount to five cents for each bag used, he said.
“It was well received and store owners in attendance seemed content with the idea, since it provided a level playing field, in that all store owners would need to comply.”
Russell said Reichert, of IGA, mentioned “his current struggle to compete with stores to the west. These are large corporate-owned stores which have purchasing power that allows them to already offer products for less.”
With the cost of paper bags approximately eight times the cost of single use bags, Reichert said for him to bear that cost while the “corporate giants to the west” do not would put him at a “competitive disadvantage”, Russell said. “The problem with the surcharge,” the supervisor reminded, “is that towns do not have the authority to legislate such a fee. That would need to be done at the state level, which could take years.”
Representatives of local environmental organizations also spoke out, offering a “compelling argument” and outlining “the devastating effects these bags have on the environment — from the threats they pose to wildlife, to the overall impacts these bags have on the ecosystems, the damage is clear and it is quantifiable. The chemicals used to manufacture these bags also find their way into the food chain and, ultimately, into the diet of the human population,” Russell said.
Reflecting on the community discussion, Russell said, “On the whole, it was a very good and productive discussion and I think people in attendance walked away with a better understanding of both sides of the issue. The six panelists did an outstanding job keeping the discussion civil and meaningful.”
The recurring theme of the night, the supervisor said, was voiced by those who spoke in favor of the ban. “They called on the town to show strong leadership and to set an example despite what the other four East End towns do.”
Panelists spoke for a total of five minutes and residents had three minutes to ask questions or offer comments. Next, Russell said, the town will continue to discuss the idea; the concept will also be brought up back at future meetings of the East End Supervisors and Village Mayors Association.
Recently, Russell said the proposal to ban single use plastic bans on the East End would not include Southold Town’s yellow bags, used for household trash.
“It is important to understand that the proposal is not to ban ‘plastic bags’ such as garbage bags,” Russell said recently. “The proposal is to ban ‘single use’ plastic bags, which are used by retail outlets for bagging purchased items.”
Russell said the proposal, which was first put forth by Southampton Town for exploration, included several suggestions for implementing the ban, including the possible creation of a committee.
After the idea was discussed at a recent Southold Town board meeting, some residents asked if the ban, if adopted on the East End, would impact the need for yellow town trash bags in Southold.
“The issues are not related,” Russell said. “Whether or not people like the ‘pay as you throw”system, which relies on the use of yellow bags, the use of them reduces the amount of recyclable material that would otherwise end up in the waste stream. This includes plastic. Since the cost of garbage disposal is volume based and paid for directly by the resident, there is a strong impetus to reduce the amount of garbage one produces. Much of what is discarded is recyclable, including plastic, and by recycling, residents use less yellow bags. Reducing the use of yellows bags reduces the ultimate cost to the resident and results in more recyclable material being removed from the waste stream.”
Single use plastic bags offer no such environmental benefit, Russell said. “They are meant to be used for one purpose, then discarded. Further, they end up in bays, creeks, and woods,” Russell said, adding that they take years to break down in the environment, remaining for generations unless a clean-up effort is organized.
Last month, the proliferation of plastic bags from local supermarkets and shops had the Southold Town board considering the suggestion by Southampton Town for a ban across the East End — but the proposal hasn’t gained much traction across the region so far.
According to Russell, the initiative was one discussed by the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association, after Throne Holst pitched the proposal just before Earth Day this year, suggesting that the regional ban be implemented in time for Earth Day 2015.
Russell said the idea of a ban was broached a few years back, but local grocery store owners gave the proposal a big thumb’s down.
While the plastic bag ban was brought before the Suffolk County Legislature, the county “dropped it like a hot potato”, Russell said.
The supervisor said while he’d still see the county take the lead on the movement, an East End approach could work, but only if all five towns were onboard.
“I’m not sure if Riverhead is on board,” he said. “They are a key player.”
The Riverhead town board, meanwhile, was unable to come to consensus on the issue.
At a recent work session, Riverhead Town Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said she would not support the plastic bag ban. “It’s a business owner’s decision on how to deliver their products,” she said.
Riverhead Town Councilman George Gabrielsen agreed. “It’s not good for farmers,” he said, adding that paper bags could not be used at farm stands.
Both Councilmen Jim Wooten and John Dunleavy, however, favored banning.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said there was no consensus and agreed with Russell that “a higher level of government has to deal with it.”
Southampton Town, Walter added, “is not necessarily supporting it.” Russell said he had an email from Jennifer Garvey, of Throne-Holst’s office, stating that research could be done and discussion to follow..
Discussion at the meeting seemed favorable, according to Garvey.
But even the Southampton Town Board, which rejected a town-wide plastic bag ban two years ago, hasn’t signed onto the regional ban idea yet, Garvey said.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said he would support a letter to the county, advocating for a Suffolk-wide ban. He has not discussed the idea with the East Hampton town board yet.
The villages of Southampton and East Hampton have already adopted plastic bag bans. No information could be immediately obtained on the status of the idea on Shelter Island.
