Ashland’s Plastic Bag Ban

Ashland has recently joined 60 Massachusetts’ cities and towns in approving plastic bag regulations. At the November town meeting, residents approved a bylaw to ban single-use plastic bags. (Read the bylaw here: www.ashlandmass.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/2738.)
The bylaw will become effective “six (6) months following approval of the bylaw by the Town of Ashland and the Attorney General or on July 1, 2018, whichever is later.” The latest word from the Attorney General was that approval may come on or before Feb. 15, 2018; it may be as late as Aug. 15.
“The response at town meeting was mostly positive,” Matt Marshquist, Ashland Sustainability Committee chair, said. “We were able to address any concerns for our process [to bring about the article] by listing the dozen or more public meetings and events we held to get feedback on the ban.”
“[At the town meeting] we had representation from a wide range of ages speaking in favor of the bylaw,” Marshquist noted.
“Since town meeting, we have heard concerns from some residents about what to do with their existing checkout bag collection. They can still continue to reuse them. The bylaw does not impact bags that residents already have in their homes,” Marshquist explained.
The Sustainability Committee plans to provide some resources to businesses, such as lists of reusable bag vendors and best practices for promoting the change at their stores.
For residents, the committee intends to do outreach ahead of the bag law going into effect. They will focus particularly on residents who may not yet be using reusable bags.
“We would like to have reusable bags produced, either with support from local businesses who may advertise on the bags or through ‘green’ grants which exist for this purpose. We hope that residents will feel pride in bringing an Ashland reusable bag to stores, knowing that it reduces waste, protects the environment and saves residents and businesses money,” Marshquist said.