Bottled water fills half an aisle in Stop & Shop.

Bottled water fills half an aisle in Stop & Shop.

Robert P. Volosevich plans to file a petition article to repeal the town’s plastic water bottle ban, citing expense and inconvenience.

The plastic water bottle ban bylaw went into effect on September 1, 2021, after passing in the Fall 2020 Town Meeting. The bylaw allows for $300 fines for violations and is enforced by the health department.

Mr. Volosevich said he went to town hall to pull the petition after talking to people at the grocery store, and a group of construction workers, who had gone to buy cases of water bottles and could not.

“I just got upset one day,” Mr. Volosevich said yesterday, September 1 . “I feel like I listened and am listening to the neighbors’ concerns.”

In an announcement about the petition, Mr. Volosevich said that store owners and residents have been expressing their concerns on whether people can stay hydrated throughout the summer. Outdoor laborers cannot buy convenient cases of water bottles at the store, and alternatives are not readily available or cost-efficient.

“Because water is the only drink that is being banned, it forces companies to move to more expensive and unhealthy choices like energy drinks or soda.” Mr. Volosevich said in the release. “While this is a good faith effort to reduce litter, this fall Town Meeting voters must rethink this misguided solution that is causing more harm, and not prevent(ing) the problem it is trying to solve.”

Alan Robinson, chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said gallon jugs are still available in stores, as they do not fall under the ban.

One of the initial goals, a goal that predated the water bottle ban, was to get people to use refillable water bottles and not single-use water bottles, Mr. Robinson said Wednesday.

But Mr. Volosevich said that there are not water bottle refill stations around Falmouth, and the only alternative is tap water or larger containers. He said that he already has support from community members, like director of the Falmouth Road Race, Scott Ghelfi.

“I have pretty good support from people in town,” Mr. Volosevich said. “So this gives me some momentum.”

He said that the issue of litter and the environmental impact of lifting the ban are not for him, but for a committee to manage.

“Making (bottles) available is essential to public health,” Mr. Volosevich said.

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The small plastic bottles are convenient, but certainly not essential. All that is required is a bit of pre planning to fill up a reusable container. Are we really so unwilling to give up minor conveniences for the greater good?

Control litter with a 25-cent deposit on all drink bottles, but get rid of the well-intentioned but shortsighted ban on 16 oz and half liter water bottles! What this regulation has done is drive people to imbibe unhealthful chemical and sugar soups.

The bottle ban was a good-faith /feel-good effort on the part of some townspeople to make a statement about the problem of plastic containers in the environment. It has proven highly inconvenient and rather foolish, because a short drive to Mashpee produces all the bottled water you need. I use my own Yeti bottle when walking, but there are many occasions when the disposable bottle would be more useful. I support the initiative to repeal the ban, and will use my new blue recycle bin to dispose of any bottles I purchase. Isn't that one of the reasons we have them?

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