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Towns in Fairfield County that have enacted plastic bag ban ordinances are now focusing efforts on communication.
New Canaan's plastic bag ban ordinance was adopted by the Town Council on Feb. 27, 2019, and goes into effect on Aug. 27, 2019.
"The delay is intended to give New Canaan retailers time to replace their inventory of carryout bags and make any required changes to their checkout practices," said New Canaan Town Council member Tom Butterworth.
The ordinance generally bans the use of plastic carryout bags unless they are sufficiently thick (6 thousandths of an inch) and durable to be considered reusable, he explained.
In the case of large retail establishments (10,000 square feet or more of retail space), large paper checkout bags also are regulated. A paper bag is considered ‘large' for this purpose if it has a capacity of 600 cubic inches or more.
Large retailers must charge 10 cents for each such bag, the bags must be recyclable, must contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and must conspicuously display the phrase “Reusable and Recyclable.”
"The vast majority of comments received from the public have been supportive of the ordinance," said Butterworth.
New Canaan Board of Finance member Amy Murphy Carroll told DailyVoice that so far there's been no pushback against the ban.
"Overall, it's been very positive," she said.
"We're not worried about perfection, we just want to move forward. People have been talking about this for years. Our view is not to scold people. The time is right," Murphy said.
Murphy brought up the idea at a Town Council meeting in October, she said.
"I saw there was a plastic bag ordinance in Stamford and I thought it's time now. Then people put me in touch with Planet New Canaan and members of BYO New Canaan (Bring Your Own).
Planet New Canaan environmental group is giving out free reusable bags. A supply locals can pick up at New Canaan Library were underwritten by HTG Investment Advisors, said Planet's President Robin Bates-Mason.
So far they gave out 600 free bags. "For every reusable bag used at Stewart’s Market in New Canaan, five cents was donated to the library mid-January to mid-February," $370 in total, said Bates-Mason.
Greenwich, Norwalk, Stamford and Westport are among Connecticut towns that passed the single-use plastic bag bans.
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