Decision Reached On Plastic Bag Ban In Norwalk

NORWALK, CT — The Common Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to ban the use of carryout plastic bags at stores throughout the city. The ordinance also provides for a 10 cents charge on paper bags, putting an emphasis on getting customers to bring reusable bags with them to stores.

The ban goes into effect on July 8, six months from the day it was passed.

Common Council President Tom Livingston said the meeting was very positive and featured around 20 speakers who voiced their support. (To sign up for Norwalk breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"It was a very positive meeting," Livingston said. "We were all very pleased with the outcome. We were very impressed with all the presenters.”

See also: Norwalk Council To Vote On Possible Plastic Bag Ban

Among those who voiced their support were a handful of local students who expressed how important the ban would be to their generation.

"[The students] spoke very articulately and convincingly," Livingston said. "It’s always great to see kids come out and support anything. Just to see that involvement and engagement is great."

Livingston also found it "very rewarding" to see the whole council come together over something of this nature.

"We worked hard on this for the last few months, and a lot of thought and energy has gone into it," Livingston said. "We all believe it’s an important issue, and we’re all just very pleased that we have gotten this far."

Betty Ball, a founding member of the organization Skip the Plastic Norwalk, said it sometimes takes more than education to change habits that are so ingrained in a person's everyday life, such as littering, texting while driving or not wearing a seat belt.

"The ordinance is similar to these forms of legislation where more than voluntary compliance is needed to achieve the desired results, in this case, reducing the number of plastic shopping bags used by residents," Ball said in an email. "The ultimate goal is to establish new habits so that something like carrying reusable shopping bags becomes routine."

The ordinance also provides for penalties if stores do not comply with the ban when it goes into effect in July, however Livingston said the council does not want to get there.

"During the next six months we’re going to be out educating the citizens as well as stores about what to do," Livingston said. "It’s going to be a learning process, and we expect there is going to be times where people don’t comply, but we’re not out there to be the bag police as much as just trying to help people comply and get used to the idea."

He added that the council's goal is to change people’s behavior, which will hopefully help residents adapt and comply with the ordinance.

"To me, it doesn’t matter," resident Andrea Pennell said when asked about her feelings on the ban. "[Plastic bags] come in handy, because I use them for things like diapers and stuff. It’s a mixed feeling, I guess.”

Though proud of the decision, Livingston emphasized the council's work is by no means over now. The next step is implementing the ban and making sure residents understand it and are educated about it.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Livingston said. "This is a start for us and we‘re hopefully going to look at other measures we might take going down the road.”

These possible future measures could include looking into plastic straws and their effect on the city. For now though, Livingston's mind is mainly set on removing the plastic bags he saw on the street in South Norwalk on Monday and the ones he saw littering the the side of the road as he got off exit 16 of Interstate 95 on Tuesday.

"If we can remove those plastic bags so we’re not having this discussion down the road, that would a be a tremendous win," Livingston said. "It’s a small step, but it’s an important step, and I like to think this is the first step."

Photo credit: RJ Scofield