Plastic Bag Ban Considered In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield is among the area towns that are discussing a possible ban on single-use plastic bags. Within Fairfield County, Greenwich, Westport and Stamford have all enacted bans, while the Norwalk Common Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to ban the use of carryout plastic bags at stores throughout the city.

The approved ordinance also provides for a 10-cent charge on paper bags, putting an emphasis on getting customers to bring reusable bags with them to stores. The ban in Norwalk goes into effect on July 8, six months from the day it was passed.

To aid in their review, members of the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting (RTM) had requested that the Fairfield Department of Community & Economic Development and Fairfield Chamber of Commerce conduct a survey among businesses on the impact of a proposed ordinance mandating use of reusable check-out bags. The results of the survey can be found here.

A total of 105 businesses responded to the survey, with 61 percent indicating support for an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic check-out bags, though results varied among industry. The Representative Town Meeting is expected to take up the issue at a future meeting, according to a news release from the Community and Economic Development department.

Another survey is being conducted by BYO (Bring Your Own) Fairfield in an effort to get as much feedback on the proposed ordinance as possible.

“By eliminating plastic check-out bags and encouraging the use of reusable ones, Fairfield’s ordinance will dramatically reduce the distribution of the wasteful pollutants that are choking Long Island Sound, and our oceans more broadly,” reads a post on the BYO Fairfield website. “With this change, Fairfield alone will reduce the use of millions of plastic bags each year.

“Our town’s commitment to Reusable Check-Out Bags aligns with the global effort to stop the crisis of plastic in our oceans, which is threatening our eco-system and posing serious health risks for generations to come. BYOFairfield.org will serve as a resource for the community and retailers alike, to learn about the initiative and how to implement this necessary change.”

To take the BYO Fairfield survey click here. You can visit the BYO Fairfield website here.

RJ Scofield, Patch Staff, and information from the Fairfield Department of Community & Economic Development contributed to this article

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