Oak Bluffs should join other towns in plastic ban

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To the Editor:

As the leader of the student group Plastic Free MV, I would like to take a moment to say “Thank you” to the residents of West Tisbury, Chilmark, Aquinnah, and Vineyard Haven for voting in favor of our bylaw banning the sales and distribution of single-use plastic water and soda bottles 34 ounces and under. For many of you, this was not an easy decision.

For more than three years now, the students and I have been working to educate the citizens of each Island town on the dangers of plastic pollution. If you came to one of our forums, thank you for showing up.

In West Tisbury, more than two years ago, their unanimous vote made us the first town in the country (possibly the world) to ban BOTH single-use water and soda bottles. I’ve never seen a group of students so excited. They had worked so hard — and it paid off.

Last year, due to COVID, we were not able to attend the Tisbury or Edgartown town meetings, but Tisbury still voted yes. Thank you to all the town residents who spoke on our behalf.

On May 15, our bylaw will be on the warrant for the Oak Bluffs town meeting. The Plastic Free MV article is No. 45 on the warrant. Preceding our bylaw (No. 43) is a warrant article named “Plastic Reduction and Mitigation,” which is not the Plastic Free MV bylaw.

Article 43 is a bylaw to form a committee to discuss plastic mitigation and present findings by May 2022. The students discussed this problem long ago, and came up with a plan to put a

bylaw on the warrant for Island towns that would ban the sales and distribution of single-use plastic water and soda bottles 34 ounces and under. This ban would go into effect in May of 2022. Students have been educating the public. They have held many forums in every town.

They have written articles and met with business owners as well as town leaders. Four Island towns already have this ban in place, three since 2020. This work has already been done.

We think a committee to discuss the problem of plastic in our environment is a great idea, though we do not want this to postpone our bylaw, No. 45, for years, while a committee decides how best to limit single-use plastic.

Four of the Island towns have already voted in favor of this bylaw. We think Oak Bluffs should, too. We have offered to work with the business owners in Oak Bluffs to help — there are plenty of alternatives to single-use plastic. Small single-use plastic water and soda bottles are NOT a necessity. There are options — safer, healthier options.

We hope that no matter which town you live in, you make an effort to change your habits for the good of our planet. Please vote yes on Article 45 on May 15.

Annemarie Ralph
Plastic Free MV