Representative Town Meeting member Andrew Colabella writes:
On January 1, Westport’s single-use plastics ordinance becomes law.
Single-use plastic items such as straws, stirrers, plates, cups, to-go containers, and all expanded polystyrene products will be banned from distribution to patrons at food establishments in town. (Plastic straws will still be available to people who are handicapped, disabled, or suffer from an illness whose effects are eased by the use of a plastic straw).
The RTM’s objective was to reduce our carbon footprint and lead by example for other municipalities, reduce frivolously distributed products, expand inventory lifespan of products for food establishments, and reduce expenses.
The process began in May 2019, when the RTM unanimously passed a single-use plastic ban on food establishments. We are leading 46 other states, along with cities in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. Our intent was to lead with perseverance, ease, and informative alternatives to make the transition smooth.
Andrew Colabella (right) is interviewed about Westport’s single-use plastics ban.
Some plastic products will not be covered under this ordinance, such as lids and utensils. There are no readily available, cost-effective alternatives.
This allows food establishments to explore on their own, and implement their own best practices toward sustainability.
Establishments throughout town have already started switching over. However, all establishments have leftover product that they are allowed to use past January 1.
It would be inappropriate to force establishments to throw out products that can still be used. Please be patient and respectful as we all work together to make the transition.
The transition will take time. There is a form that any food establishment can use to be granted time to transition. Most have already done so.
A lot of franchises have already introduced innovative products in the holiday season.
Some newer products look and feel like plastic. They’re not. They are a polylactic acid (PLA) material that is a plant/leaf-associated product that, when disposed of properly, breaks down quickly leaving no harmful traces behind.
If disposed of improperly, it will biodegrade and have no adverse effect on the environment.
Unlike plastic it contains no benzene or styrene, which are carcinogenic products. It is made from a renewable resource, not petroleum-based like plastic.
We are fortunate to live in state where landfills no longer exist for solid waste. Our solid waste is transported to Bridgeport, where it is burned to generate electricity through a turbine system, converting smoke into steam and one ton of soot a year.
Out of 78 million metric tons of plastic produced yearly, only 14% is recycled. At one time countries like China, India, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia purchased our plastic recyclables. These created floating garbage islands.
Single-use plastics are seldom recycled.
Westport has always led the East Coast in the fight against harmful products for consumers. Our town advocates for education, innovation, safety, and reducing waste fiscally and physically.
I extend a big thank you on behalf of my co-sponsors, P3, the Conservation Commission, Sustainable Westport, the selectwomen’s office, Nick Bamonte, town operations director Tom Kiely, and the Aspetuck Health District for supporting and implementing real legislation in action.
For more information on the Westport legislation, click here.
(“06880” covers Westport politics, the environment — and their intersection — and much more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Virtue signaling at best. Town administration continues to attempt to “CA” Westport. Delete this if you must as I’m sure it does not fit your narrative.
Of course your comment will remain up. No need for your last line. The only comments I remove are those that are posted under fake names, or that are clearly defamatory. Have a nice day.
would you prefer Louisiana. Alabama Mississippi?
Such an important step.
Kudos to Andrew C & his co-sponsors, &, of course, to Dan W for leading off Dec 15 with this.
Great news. Thanks for reporting this, Andrew!
In the same vein, note that CT’s bottle deposit doubles to 10 cents starting 1/1. BTW, there are only 10 states that have bottle deposits (Wikipedia) So, If you’re the kind of person who stocks up on Forever Stamps ahead of so-frequent rate hikes (tip: sold out at our USPS), get your cases of bottled water now! (just kidding. use the refillable bottle someone will inevitably give you this holiday). Also, being pedantic, I’m pretty sure Bridgeport converts water, not smoke, into steam for its turbines. You may be conflating with smokestack scrubbers/filters, which they apparently also employ. That does leave the ash and other non-burnables, which either go to, well, someone else’s landfill or the ocean.
Good News for Westport…Thank you Andy for all your hard work, and working with restaurants, stores, and town to make this a win-win for everyone, and most importantly our planet
Thanks for keeping the Westport diaspora informed about our beloved hometown! I just wanted to comment that the graphic in this morning’s 06880 states that Westport was the first East coast municipality to ban single-use plastics, in May 2019. Here in Nantucket we banned single-use plastics in October 2018, prior to Westport’s ban. We have since banned the sale of single-use plastic bottles, and this year our ban on tiny liquor bottles, or “nips” took effect. It is making a difference!
Concord, Massachusetts (my other town) beat Nantucket by 4 years — and there’s even a movie about it! See trailer at:
http://tinyurl.com/4ukxtfjj
“Save The Dead Dinosaurs! Bankrupt The Saudi Princes!* Ban Single Use!”
* The Saudis are already planning for a world AFTER oil is less than 50% of energy use globally.
Michael that is great! Nips are all over Greens Farms Road etc. We did a clean up a few years ago, and collected over 50 of them.
Eliminating or “phasing out” Nips may not be a bad idea, if in fact we can.
We hoped the state was going to do that, but all they did was add a 5 cent surcharge on their sale! But now people are working on a plastic bottle and nips ban.
Thank you, Andrew. This is an important step to improving the environment not only of Westport, but of the world’s waters and public health. The effects of plastics and the microplastics they become have been proven to cause a wide variety of ills in all living things. Other towns and states are already looking for us to guidance in this regard.
Most importantly, we all are guilty for ordering single stream items we probably want but don’t need. Impulse buying for a wide variety of goods accounts for so much of this waste. A friend of mine shared their grandchildren’s Christmas list. Everything from expensive cosmetics (found on a TikTok review), to plastic toys that will probably be landfilled along with all the packaging by the time Spring rolls around. We as consumers could seriously reduce the amount of single stream waste if we focused more on needs then wants. Access to consumable crap is just a click away these days.
might want to look closely at the non-plastic alternatives and the chemicals they have on them