The movement to ban plastic bags in Darien received a unanimous endorsement by the town's Environmental Protection Commission at its meeting Wednesday night. That was after Nina Miller and Deepika Saksena of Choose to Reuse in Darien presented a proposal for all of the town's stores to switch to reusable bags.
"We're out there, we want to be upfront and start conversations with as many different groups in town as we can," Miller said. The group is planning a talk at the Senior Center on Monday and will present its plan to the Board of Selectmen on April 11. It is also talking to groups such as the Boy Scouts and the League of Women Voters to gather support.
Peter Hillman, chairman of the environmental commission, was impressed with the women's presentation. "I commend this group of five who've been leading this effort to educate. I thank you for the education you've given us tonight, and we would like to send a motion of support and encouragement to the Board of Selectmen prior to their April meeting."
Miller held up a number of reusable bags, including ones from The Daily Darien and examples from the art exhibit "In The Bag," which is at the Nature Center. She said the reusable bags became popular after Westport enacted a similar ban. "It's catching on. It's starting to become chic to have bags like this," she said.
Saksena said that many merchants around Darien have been supportive, although there has been some hesitancy from smaller stores. "There's been a little bit of resistance. They have enough competition, and don't want to inconvenience their customers."
She cited Westport as an example of how, once the ban is enacted, people usually embrace it. "We think of it as a cultural change, like the smoking ban and the seatbelt ban. Once people start doing it, it becomes automatic."
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