Plastic Bag Ban Creates Division Among Scituate Residents

Late last year, Scituate voters went to the polls and voted to ban single-use plastic bags at stores located in town, starting in 2019. Organized by local residents, the movement to ban plastic bags at Scituate stores gained traction over the past few months, leading to the vote on November 14th.

It’s no secret that Facebook played a large role in the passing of the so-called “plastic bag bill,” as the original organizers of the movement created a Facebook group themselves, aptly named Scituate Plastic Bag.

Under the new bill, shoppers are expected to either bring their own bags with them to the store or to be provided with paper bags by the store, though it is unclear as to whether or not citizens will have to pay extra for a paper bag. The motivation behind the vote was to keep the town’s nature–and especially the waterfront–protected and clean, reducing litter in the town and the number of animals affected by said garbage.

Members of the anti-plastic bag group cited statistics regarding the impact of single-use plastic in general on the environment, such as Scituate resident Lisa Scanlon, who presented statistics at the special town meeting. “An estimated one million birds, 100,000 turtles, and countless other sea animals die each year from ingesting plastic,” Scanlon, one of the founders of Scituate Plastic Bag, explained.

Many Scituate reacted to the vote on Facebook itself, where the movement started. Members of a local Facebook group named “Scituate Monthly ~ Our Town” were among the most vocal, with scores of citizens making their voices heard on the online forum. Some supported the ban, but others opposed it, saying that it made their lives more difficult by forcing them to bring their own bags to stores. One resident complained of the inconvenience of having to buy reusable bags to bring to stores, while another lamented that everything was simpler in the past.

In the end, the bill was passed. Starting in 2019, Scituate stores will have to do their best to follow the plastic bag ban.