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Many towns and cities in Connecticut have enacted bans on plastic bag use and others have ordinances in place that will take effect this year.
In early March, Weston's plastic bag ordinance took effect, but a local market owner says his customers are upset.
It's not the ban on single-use plastic bags shoppers at Peter's Weston Market object to but the 10 cent fee stores have to charge when customers use them, said owner Jim Magee.
The ordinance prohibits retailers from providing single-use plastic bags. Instead, only reusable bags or recyclable paper bags can be provided.
Since the ban went into effect in March, the Weston store has been required to charge customers 10 cents for the reusable or recyclable bags they provide.
"People are alright with the plastic bag part, but we're hoping to get it either delayed or appealed until every town (in Connecticut) does it. A lot of my customers aren't even local and come through and don't have reusable bags. Landscapers, other workers in the area don't carry them."
"They're blaming the cashiers and yelling at them. One lady (cashier) was so upset she almost had a heart attack."
Because of the problem and though the ordinance is still in place, "We're currently not charging the 10 cents," Magee said.
"The First Selectman has been great in giving reusable bags to hand out. But never in my life did I have people say I'm never shopping here again. It was disgusting," Magee continued.
Weston First Selectman Chris Spaulding said his office has gotten "conflicting positions" from the store regarding the 10 cent fee and that the overwhelming calls to his office about the ordinance have been from people that support the single-use plastic bag ban.
"As a result, we have a meeting with Jim and Karen Magee (owners) in the coming weeks for clarity. In the meantime, we have stepped up communication, with town-wide informational postcards and posters. We are also making free reusable bags (donated by a private donor, not public money) available at Town Hall, the Senior Center, Social Services and I have dropped off several hundred at Peter's already with more available."
"I have received multiple dozens of emails and calls, overwhelmingly (20 to 1 ratio) in support of maintaining the ordinance as is. At least, in my office, the number of complaints about the fee have been quite small while the number of comments in support of maintaining has been great," Spaulding said.
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