The Edgartown select board approved the 2023 annual town meeting warrant on Monday night, which will include an article proposing the ban on the sale of plastic nip bottles — bottles of alcohol under 100mL.
If approved, the ban would go into effect May 2024.
This follows a year’s long discussion among both down-Island towns that sell the miniature liquor bottles — Edgartown and Oak Bluffs — on how to curb the pervasive litter problem caused by improperly discarded, single-use containers.
Also prompting the warrant articles were talks of decreasing the amount of plastics sold on-Island.
The newest iteration of the initiative came in early January, when the Oak Bluffs select board recommended putting the proposed ban in front of voters at their annual town meeting.
Edgartown soon followed suit, with the proposed ban garnering a significant amount of support from Edgartown residents, who had petitioned the town to introduce a warrant article addressing the problem to be voted on at their town meeting.
“I haven’t seen any argument that would dissuade me from pulling it off the warrant,” select board member Arthur Smadbeck said Monday.
Resident Julia Livingston extolled the board for putting forth the article. “The litter problem is very substantial,” she said.
Not only does the improper disposal of the bottles create that problem, Livingston said, but the small bottles can also end up in storm drains, which has to be dealt with by the town’s highway department, stretching town resources.
Island retailers have expressed concern over banning nips, including at the Edgartown board meeting Monday. Retailers say the ban would negatively affect their business.
Julia Tarka, one of the owners of Rosewater Market in downtown Edgartown, suggested that the town first “work to enforce the current littering laws before banning [nips].”
She said she’d be willing to continue to work with the town to incorporate additional recycling bins in town, an initiative she’s been involved in for some time.
Having “proper containers to dispose of things leads to proper disposal,” she said, noting that downtown Edgartown seems to have a lower volume of litter than in other areas that may lack adequate disposal areas.
Tarka also took issue with the language of the article which does not exclude other material containers, such as glass or tin. She asked the board to consider amending the article to refer to “plastic” containers only.
By expanding the ban to other containers “more than doubles the economic impact” to her business, she said, which offers a number of “high-end nips,” and “ready to drink cocktails.”
“My personal hope would be that the select board uses this moment to press pause, and doesn’t move forward with the warrant article this year, but instead works with the business community over the next year to craft language that doesn’t have a negative impact for us, while still addressing the legitimate concern, whether [that] be littering or single-use plastics,” Tarka said.
She said waiting would also allow the Vineyard to observe how Nantucket has fared with its similarly crafted ban — highlighting “plastic” bottles only— that went into effect January 1.
Chick Stapleton, owner of Island Spirit Kayak and member of Friends of Sengekontacket, the organization responsible for the parade float, ‘Nipsy’ — a giant great white shark made of beer cans and liquor bottles — advocated for the article to include nip bottles made of any material.
“A lot of the nip bottles are glass too,” she said. “I don’t think plastic is necessarily the [biggest issue].“
“It’s the size, and the reason people chuck nips out the window,” Stapleton said. ”People don’t want to get caught with them.”
Select board member Arthur Smadbeck emphasized “this is not the selectmen banning anything. . .We’re responding to the desire of the community to have a say in it.”
“This is an article we’re putting on to the town meeting [warrant] at the request of many citizens,” he said.
Opponents of the article can make their opinions known at the upcoming town meeting, Smadbeck said.
“It would be wrong for the select board to short circuit the process by not allowing it to go onto the warrant and not allowing voters to have their say,” he said.
Town Administrator James Hagerty clarified that any citizen can petition their government for a special town meeting, as long as that petition garners at least 200 signatures.
People buy nip bottles so that they can have their shot and throw the bottle out the window and not get caught with a larger bottle if stopped by police. That is why they buy them. If you ban nips, how will the drinking discarding miscreants deal with this dilemma? Stop drinking in cars? Only drink at home out of larger bottles? Not drink at all? With the large alcoholic public on MV, this is not a solution.
andy– I think you are correct–
a $5 deposit would certainly be an effective way to slow the littering down, and if not, some people who walk around places such as east chop would earn a little cash for picking them up.
My guess is that people will just buy the smallest bottle possible and drink more, or will purchase a “sleeve” of them and keep them in the car — they would be unopened bottles after all and legal.If people did that, it might actually turn out those people who normally just purchase one nip for the ride home might have 2 since they are right there.
I buy nips to enjoy in my home in an already pre-measured portion. It allows for portion control and responsible consumption. Its unfortunate that people discard them all over the place. Consequently; responsible nip consumers like myself are going to be punished due to the disrespectful and disgusting behavior of others. Ill make the adjustment and be just fine. Its really a shame that people behaving badly ruin other responsible peoples fun.
You could just buy a shot glass and measure your portions yourself.
You’ll actually save money. If you were to buy enough nips to fill a quart bottle of booze, you will have paid close to double the price of just buying a quart.
I agree, Andrew. Many who are fond of drinking and driving opt for nips for this reason.
Down with the NIPS!!!
They litter our beaches. Have picked up so many discarded nips!
How many coffee cups have you picked up? How many lottery tickets?
People often buy nips because that’s all they can afford.
I don’t like the litter they produce at all and it’s not just the little bottles themselves but also the bits and pieces of the little bottles that never disappear.
Someone suggested awhile ago that adding a deposit fee might help. I’m not sure if that would encourage the buyers of the nips to return them like they do with beer bottles and cans, but maybe kids could collect them and return them for the deposits? It certainly would add up!
Just a thought.
I mean this respectfully, but if someone is in a financial situation where a bottle over 100ml would over leverage them, maybe they should be reevaluating their fiscal priorities… Sure, those with less might ‘return’ the empties for a refund, but the party boys from Jersey & CT are still going to throw hundreds of them on our beaches and wildlife. There are so many other programs we can use to help those with less. Ensuring they can purchase single serving booze is not one of them..
Nips are easy to spot and you can see them all over the island. Some people try to cover them up when they toss them. Nips have been sticking out of the brush for as long as I can remember. Not sure we need more governmental control in our Lives. It’s too bad people can’t be more responsible with their own nips. Education is the answer on how to deal with nips not more laws.
I think people know that it’s wrong to litter but they’d rather throw it out the window than be found with empty containers in the car. What’s your education proposal and how would it convince people to stop doing that? I’m assuming they also know they shouldn’t drink and drive.
Are we going to have to educate the people throwing their Black Dog, Mocca Motts and Cumberland Farms coffee cups out the window that that is wrong also? As Jessica mentioned, pretty much everybody in the country knows littering is wrong. It’s a little late for education.
Jim, You can add Covid masks to that list. For the last three years I’ve been walking around America saying “Pick up your damn masks, People!!!”
Homo Insanitis – please wake up and take good care of your HOME. Mother Nature is our Home. You only get one of those. Take responsibility. Do your part. Carry In, Carry out.
“Have I not reason to lament what man has made of man?” William Wordsworth
The only reason for any law is is irresponsible people.
Starting with murder.
Not to mention voter fraud.
I’m sorry Julia, but the answer to the nip problem is not more trash cans.