Falmouth has 10 water bottle refill stations in town. Funding for nine more is in hand.
Falmouth has 10 water bottle refill stations in town. Funding for nine more is in hand.
Both opponents and proponents of the petition to repeal the ban on the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in Falmouth are confident they will prevail at Town Meeting on November 14.
Robert P. Volosevich submitted the petition to repeal the bottle ban, which was approved in a voice vote by Town Meeting in September of 2020 and went into effect a year later.
Dana C. Nielsen submitted a petition to the same effect (Article 12), but then withdrew it to join forces with Mr. Volosevich.
“I’m feeling very confident in the support,” Mr. Volosevich said on Tuesday, November 1 . “I don’t believe [the ban] was well thought out when it was done.”
Alan Robinson, chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said the ban has reduced litter on Falmouth roadsides and in parking lots and waterways. The solid waste committee voted unanimously to request town meeting members vote down the petition article during its meeting on Tuesday, November 1, he said.
“Falmouth is taking an important leadership role in something that we hope and anticipate will continue to grow,” Mr. Robinson said.
Mr. Robinson and Mr. Volosevich, along with their supporters, met with the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning. Mr. Volosevich said it was an opportunity to address concerns around his petition and how the town might respond should it pass.
“It was fascinating,” Mr. Robinson said. “It was a lively and spirited conversation.”
Mr. Robinson said business owners in attendance asked why the flimsy single-use plastic water bottles have been banned but not products that come in heavy-duty plastic containers.
Plastic is appropriate and necessary for some products, Mr. Robinson said, but, when it comes to single-use water bottles, there are readily available and sustainable alternatives. He said he sees the issue primarily from a litter reduction standpoint.
“I don’t see detergent containers littered on the roadsides of Falmouth, but I do see water bottles on the side of the road,” he said.
While the conversation in Falmouth is still ongoing, surrounding towns have already had their say. Sandwich and Mashpee each passed similar bans that were then rescinded so fast they never went into effect.
Mashpee passed a ban on the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in its October 2021 Town Meeting. It was set to go into effect September 30 of this year. But on May 2, Mashpee’s Annual/Special Town Meeting overturned the ban. Residents discussed both the ease and challenges of reusable water bottles and also alternatives, such as single use cardboard and aluminum water containers.
Mashpee resident Phyllis A. Sprout brought a funnel, a 1-gallon water jug, and a reusable water bottle. She demonstrated the difficulty of funneling water from the larger container into the smaller one. Virginia N. Schargenberg, the original petitioner of the ban, stressed the importance of environmental health over customer convenience.
Sandwich quickly repealed its own single-use plastic water bottle ban. The town approved the ban at Town Meeting in May 2021. It was set to go into effect December 31, but was instead struck down on November 15.
Sandwich resident June Bowser-Barrett brought a bag full of plastic props. She pulled out large-plastic bottle after large plastic bottle, throwing each to the side and proclaiming each one a problem of an equally large size as she did so. She finally produced a tiny, single-use plastic water bottle.
“They want to ban this,” Ms. Bowser-Barrett said. “This is not a big problem.”
Sustainable Practices LTD, a Barnstable County focused environmental action group, helped pass the original bans in Sandwich, Mashpee, and Falmouth. Founder and executive director Madhavi Venkatesan said the group has already re-filed bans in towns that repealed the ban and will likely re-file in Falmouth should Mr. Volosevich’s petition pass in November.
“How can you justify a few minutes of convenience for the long-lasting impact on the planet?” Dr. Vanekatesan said.
Dr. Venkatesan said thin plastics used in single-use water bottles leach chemicals into food and water, chemicals that are tied to autoimmune, cardiovascular disease, and other health problems. She said that using tap water is far cheaper than buying water in disposable bottles, which are often just filled with tap water themselves.
“You pay 100 times more at a minimum,” Dr. Venkatesan said.
Mr. Volosevich said he was unconcerned with the select board’s vote against his petition at its October 3 meeting.
“I’m bringing in guests that are going to speak and try to convince the members on town meeting floor,” Mr. Volosevich said. “There’s still a lot of time for people to make their decision.”
Mr. Robinson said he looks forward to the challenge of opposing the petition on Town Meeting floor, and is preparing his arguments against the repeal.
“I feel that Town Meeting will stand strongly as they did two years ago in voting to ban the sales of plastic, and will vote no to the petitioner’s article,” Mr. Robinson said.
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