The Chilmark select board voted to support the proposed ban on nip bottles in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.
The two down-Island towns are currently proposing bans on the sale of nip bottles in order to curb the pervasive litter problem caused by the mini liquor bottles.
The newest iteration of the conversation, which has been discussed for years, started in Oak Bluffs in early January. Select board members recommended putting the proposed ban in front of voters at the annual town meeting.
Edgartown followed suit one week later, with its select board also voting to introduce a warrant article that would ban nips — plastic bottles of alcohol under 100mL.
Chilmark board member James Malkin supported the ban during a meeting Wednesday, saying that small bottles from the other towns wind up in Chilmark, “although we don’t have a place that sells nip bottles here.”
The Chilmark select board ought to “support what the other towns do to eliminate the litter from the nip bottles that we find all over our highways, byways, and paths in Chilmark.”
Chilmark board member Warren Doty asked how a town that doesn’t sell alcohol can push for those bans.
“We’re just supporting the concept,” town administrator Tim Carroll said. “We’re supporting the other towns’ efforts.”
Board members subsequently agreed to send a letter to the other towns voicing support for the ban.
