'Proud to lead the way.' Healey plastic bottle ban encourages Cape group to push for more

A new directive by Gov. Maura Healey banning executive branch agencies from buying single-use plastic bottles has encouraged an environmental group on Cape Cod to push forward on new bans on commercial purchases.

The state ban will take effect "immediately," Healey said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, charting "a better path forward, and Massachusetts is proud to lead the way.” The announcement came Sept. 18 at the Clinton Global Initiative’s Climate Week summit in New York.

Massachusetts is the first state in the country to enact this ban, with two executive orders signed to address climate change and sustainability. The orders target biodiversity goals and the sale of single-use plastic bottles under 21-fluid ounces. The ban comes after years of failed legislative efforts, with bills held in committees without action.

“Our state is home to precious natural resources — from our towering forests, numerous lakes and ponds, vast network of rivers, and beautiful marshland, estuaries, and abundant ocean — that clean our air, power our economy, and serve as a home to hundreds threatened and rare species,” said Healey. “These lands define the culture of our state, and today, we are taking bold action to preserve them for generations to come.”

Green Road Refill founder and owner Jessica Georges said she is "really encouraged" by the state announcement.

According to its website, Green Road Refill is a mobile retail store that "offers earth-conscious products with the focus on reducing Cape Cod's plastic footprint." The store refills over 40 plant-based soaps, shampoos, lotions and cleaning products sold by the weighed ounce.

"We're starting a long road to really trying to, as a society, change our ways," Georges said. Her business started in 2018 as a mobile one, and in 2021 she opened a store in Brewster. "When I first started my business, there were hardly any refill shops in the states and now, I belong to like a Facebook group of over 500 owners. So I feel that that shift is really happening.”

To whom do the bans apply?

The state ban prohibits executive branch agencies from purchasing single-use plastic bottles.

The municipal plastic water bottle ban on Cape Cod focuses on eliminating non-emergency single-use plastic bottle purchases by town governments and sale of beverages in single-use plastic containers on town property across all towns in Barnstable County, according to proponent Sustainable Practices.

The commercial ban would eliminate the sale of non-carbonated, non-flavored water in single-use plastic bottles of less than one gallon in size within the jurisdictional area of a Cape Cod town, according to Sustainable Practices.

What is the threat of single-use plastic bottles?

Plastic bottles were cited for increasing the threats that endangered species face as well. In Massachusetts, there are over 430 endangered species.

Americans use an estimated 50 billion single-use bottles annually, with only a 29% recycling rate, according to the Sierra Club of Massachusetts. Plastic remains in the environment for 1,000 years and the carbon footprint of bottled water is 11 to 31 times greater than tap water.

The state buys around 100,000 plastic bottles annually, and now over 20 municipalities have restrictions on these bottles. Massachusetts leads the country in enacting this ban, but it is not the first region to do so.

On Cape Cod municipal bans enacted: what's next?

All 15 Cape Cod towns placed a municipal ban on plastic bottles as of 2021. The Cape-wide ban was pushed by Sustainable Practices, which filed citizen petitions in each town, leading to the ban of single-use plastic bottles and other plastic containers.

But the organization is pushing to extend the commercial ban to towns that have been reluctant to adopt one.

In Sandwich, for example, a commercial ban has been considered at least six times since 2015, with opponents citing potential harm to restaurant and food industries.

One opponent said the ban was “‘foolish’ because of the water quality issue was with certain wells in town,” while others “cited age and disability as factors that make it difficult to carry gallon containers.”

More single-use plastic bans plotted on Cape Cod

“Our goal starting next year, 2024, is to ensure that the other towns have that ban on single-use plastic water bottles,” said Madhavi Venkatesan, founder and executive director of Sustainable Practices. “We will continue with our 2023 effort which resulted in both Yarmouth and Harwich passing the elimination of single-use plastic takeout.”

From the archive: Yarmouth moves forward with plastic bans, $207.2 million wastewater management plan

The state is catching up with the Cape, she said.

“What the state has done has shown the hard work of all the members of Sustainable Practices over the last couple of years, and legitimize that hard work that we've been going through,” said Venkatesan. “But what the state has also done is shown how important it is to have grassroots movements, because grassroots movements are the ones that actually convey ideas to people on a local level, which then allows for regulatory action.”

More visibility for the actions being undertaken on the Cape is needed, she said. "Because we are a small area geographically,” said Venkatesan. “But, with 15 towns, we represent so many different types of political views and personalities.”

Other actions included learning about stakeholder engagement from the Cape and more civic engagement.

“I really hope that Cape Codders will get behind the other initiatives that we're doing on the Cape, support us and show up for town meetings,” said Venkatesan. “It's not enough to say that you're for climate justice. You got to spend those two hours at the town meeting floor and making sure those votes go in.”

For Green Road Refill, explaining why can "lessen the blow"

The impact of local plastics bans has, at times, "really aggravated people," Georges said.

"There's a certain set of population that's just not gonna get it," she said. "We live in a society of conveniences and once you give that convenience, it's really hard to take it away. It's really about drawing awareness to the issue and people might get angry, but if you explain the reason why, hopefully that will lessen the blow and it really creates conscious daily decisions to reduce your own plastic footprint.”

The next thing "on the docket" is reducing and ultimately banning takeout, like plastic takeout containers, Georges said. "And again, it's not just the reduction of plastic, for the health of our planet and our oceans, but it's also the health of our community."

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: State is catching up with Cape Cod plastic bottle bans, proponent says