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Notes: York is again leading the way in proposing a ban on single-use plastics, according to local historian James Kences. He points out that only nine years ago, in 2015, York banned the use of plastic bags, a carefully planned and thoroughly discussed citizen-led initiative. York was among the first to accomplish this feat.
"York is not only on track to be the first in the state to ban plastic bags … but will be the first municipality in the nation, in which voters- not elected officials- will decide this issue…" This was written in the York Weekly in early June 2015, only days after the members of the Selectboard unanimously approved the ordinance for inclusion on the November ballot.
Article 7, the ordinance, received the necessary endorsement from the electorate, 1,469 in favor and 1,151 opposed.
Almost a decade later, yet another article, this time numbered 66 on the ballot, is directed at the elimination of such single-use food ware items as plastic straws, utensils, and stirring sticks. The decisive vote is scheduled for May.The first steps on the path to the 2015 ordinance began modestly enough at a kitchen table in the home of Victoria Simon. It was early in the summer of 2013, and a young woman was staying with her.
"We sat at my kitchen table and together imagined and created ‘Bring Your Own Bag York.’"
Gradually, the effort gained momentum, and a committee of five determined women formed to bring the ordinance into being.
"We were proposing a 5-cent fee on plastic and paper carry-out bags, but the Selectboard rejected this in favor of an outright ban on the bags." The imposition of the fee frequently appears as the favored approach and is encountered in communities throughout the United States. Outright bans do exist, but they are far less common than the fee, probably because they are met with less opposition from local businesses.
"The ordinance," it was acknowledged, "was the result of two years of research, community outreach and education, two presentations, a public hearing, work sessions, and recent amendments recommended by the Selectboard." To this list could be added, "two market fests, a dozen farmers markets," speaking to school students, and scheduling views of the documentary "Bag It." There was a door-to-door campaign conducted on weekends from early October to the day before the vote.
Of the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic produced each year, and the scale is destined to rise ever higher, single-use represents a major portion of the total and has been targeted globally by communities and countries for elimination. The plastics industry, not surprisingly, has aggressively pushed back against this movement, often making pledges related to the effectiveness of recycling. They have consistently failed to point out that much of the plastic cannot be recycled. The small amount that can be is negligible, and this is not likely to change, at least in the near term, if at all.
Single-use plastic finds its way into landfills or the ocean, where the material inevitably fragments into smaller pieces. Marine animals, from invertebrates to whales, ingest the plastic and, in many instances, either starve to death or suffer severe internal injuries. A plastic straw that had become fixed into the nostrils of a sea turtle and had to be carefully removed was in an online video that reached 41 million views in August 2015.
Plastic is composed of toxic chemicals, and some plastics are known to be highly poisonous. These chemicals number in the thousands and include an array of additives, plasticizers, softening agents, stabilizers, fillers, coloring agents, and so forth. The plastics industry has been cautious about revealing full details of the substances used, but researchers have begun to define the harm inflicted by these chemicals upon living organisms. The most concerning is not only the many carcinogens, but also the endocrine disruptors that interfere with hormonal function.
The plastic bag, the subject of the 2015 York ordinance, has rightfully earned a notorious reputation and leads as the item in urgent need of termination. It is formed from polyethylene, the dominant product of the petrochemical industry and the basis of many of the most familiar plastics in use today. Chemists at a British company created the material during the early 1930s, but because of the high pressure required and the risk of explosions, it was not practical for mass consumption.
With the onset of the Second World War, polyethylene was quickly recognized for its suitability in electrical insulation. Soon mass scale production commenced for its application in international communications, specifically as insulation for submarine cables. By the early 1950s, the role it played had significantly broadened as packaging film, bottles (350 million units just in 1954), and the first plastic bags.
In 1959, as a prelude to what was to follow six decades later, a national campaign to eliminate polyethylene bags was provoked by reports of many small children being suffocated. The cause of the crisis was the large dry-cleaning bags, which were unfortunately reused as mattress covers and for other purposes. As a consequence of this, over eighty children perished. One New York City newspaper declared in its pages, "an almost invisible peril hangs loosely over the helpless heads of the nation's infants."
An unprecedented situation confronted the plastics industry that threatened its future, further complicated by the message it had conveyed that the bags should be reused. For its defense, the industry blamed the parents for the tragedy, and then shifted to the position the bags were designed for single-use and should be thought of as disposable.
Adept public relations saved the plastic bag in 1959. The negative stigma may explain why the shopping bag originated not in this country but in Europe in the mid-1960s and, by the next decade, had become ubiquitous. The scale of production is astronomical in the billions. The enormity of the supply, the failures of recycling, and the overarching tendency for ready disposability, embody the very worst aspects of the concept of single-use in our society.
James Kences is the town historian for the town of York.
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