Carrying reusable bags and armed with statistics, members of the North Fork Audubon Society and other residents came before the Southold town board last night, begging for them to consider banning single-use plastic bags in town.
Anne Surchin, who’s on the board of directors of the North Fork Audubon Society, handed the board a petition with more than 1,000 signatures, and said 184 more had been collected on an online change.org petition.
Surchin said East Hampton and Southampton Town have instituted a ban on the single use plastic bags; an informal meeting was convened last fall in Southold to discuss the issue but no decision was ever made.
The ban, Surchin said, would not include produce bags or bags used at butcher shops, fish stores and farmstands.
Advocates of the ban painted a dire picture of the staggering environmental impacts caused by plastic bags.
“The amount of plastic waste in this world is frightening,” Surchin said, adding that over one trillion single use plastic bags are used worldwide each year, with 46,000 ending up in every square mile of the ocean. Plastic bags, she said, take up to 50 years or more to degrade.
“They’re here forever and they’re coating the bottoms of our oceans.”
The bags, she said, cause the death of marine animals, who mistake them for food; they do not biodegrade and soak up contaminants and toxins.
“We’re at a threshold here. We can make a smart decision and use reusable bags,” she said.
In some states and countries, if customers bring reusable bags to the store, they take money off the total bill, she adde.
“We have to look at the greater good of the environment,” Surchin said.
Other residents, including local winery owners, said they support the ban and give reusable wine totes to customers.
Southold’s David Markel asked Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell about whether he feared that the ban would hurt area businesses and send consumers on a mass exodus to shop in Riverhead.
The supervisor corrected Markel and said a ban would not mean residents would head to shop in Riverhead.
However, his concern was the burden Southold business owners would have to bear if the town adopted the ban and Riverhead did not.
“This adds to the operational costs of local businesses,” Russell said, adding that until Riverhead also agreed on a ban, it would not mean a level playing field for Southold business owners.
“You have a petition signed by well over 1,000 of your fellow citizens, saying we want you to stand up for the environment,” Markel said. “To me, this is a watershed issue. It says where you stand on the environment.”
Russell commended Markel for the amount of work that went into the petitions, which he said was “astonishing” and indicated “a deep commitment on your part.”
Bill Toedter of the North Fork Environmental Council said the petroleum-based plastic bags are absorbed by local marine life, including oysters and clams, important to the local restaurant economy.
“Petroleum-based residue found in humans from consuming fish with degradation from petroleum-based products such as plastic bags is on the rise and it’s scary,” he said.
Plastic bags also mean loss of municipal funds; the plastic bags foul up the machinery at waste management centers such as the transfer station.
“This town should be a leader on this issue, not waiting for Riverhead. Let’s get out in front of this and get the county to follow,” Toedter said.
Another resident, Diana van Buren, asked why, with Southold having some of the most extensive shoreline in New York State, the town is not a leader in the movement. “I don’t understand it,” she said.
Tourism will be impacted by plastic bags left on beaches and roads, she said. “What kind of message does that send? Not a good one.”
Nancy Sawastynowicz of Cutchogue said she’s carried her reusable bag for 35 years. “They used to call me the bag lady,” she said.
Heather Cusack thanked the board for considering the bag. “What’s good for then environment is good for us,” she said, adding that reusable bags could be a new business in town and a safer, non-toxic way to carry food.
Tess Gordon, the business owner behind a proposed shrimp farm, said she favors reusable bags, as well. She said the reason why she and her husband want to promote aquaculture in town is because it’s healthier for residents and the environment.
Cutchogue resident Benja Schwartz asked the board if anyone on the board was willing to consider the ban. Councilman Bob Ghosio said he was; Schwartz asked what it would take to draft a law and hold a formal public hearing.
Russell said he was willing to consider the idea but not to committing to draft a law at this time. He said he’d reach out to local business owners for input.
East Marion resident Linda Goldsmith said she believed local business owners might embrace a ban and pointed to the IGA’s initiative last year that gave residents a reusable bag if they spent $20.
In some countries, another woman said, patrons are charged for bags at the counter.
Russell said he would meet with the county, which has the ability to impose a tax on the bags.
Last October, mayors and supervisors of East End towns announced that they’d decided to embark on a coordinated effort to implement a regional single-use plastic bags — but Southold Town wasn’t ready to sign on, yet.
“The town board is not taking action at this time. We are certainly reserving the right to revisit the issue in the future, particularly if other towns participate. There appears to be some support of a countywide ban and I believe the board will pass a resolution urging adoption of a ban at the county level,” Russell said at the time.
