The Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) is a local, member-supported nonprofit land conservation and environmental advocacy organization that has been working since 1965 to preserve the natural resources and community character of the Island. In our role as a voice for the Island environment, and alongside many Island residents and the youth group Plastic Free MV, VCS supported the Island-wide, single-use plastic bottle ban. This ban was voted into place across every Island town between 2019 and 2022.
Many years after the 2021 vote in the town of Oak Bluffs, VCS is disappointed that there is no system for enforcement of this bylaw, or even education available for businesses about it. Over the course of this past half-year, the Oak Bluffs select board has asked the board of health to act as the enforcing body. Last week, the board of health officially declined the responsibility.
The board of health cited lack of time and resources as the reason they are unable to take on enforcement. As a small team, we can relate to what being short-staffed is like, but we don’t find this an adequate rationale. Instead, we see it as an opportunity for imagination and collaboration, a strategy we deploy in our small community when fighting for environmental issues that are often pushed to the back burner.
Throughout the deliberations, VCS has repeatedly offered to provide the board of health with educational materials and related support, but there has been no reply. The board of health and the town should embrace the work, and the resources, that many Islanders and organizations continuously provide to assist in creating a culture that prioritizes reducing its waste. If we work together, we can work forward, not backward. This collaborative effort often protects both staff and financial resources; it does not exacerbate demands on them.
VCS spoke with other Massachusetts municipalities, and found that most towns enforce the bylaw through their boards of health, sometimes in partnership with the select board or a sustainability coordinator. They are responsive to residents’ reports of infractions, and go to lengths to translate the bylaw into another language for a business if necessary. They were transparent that the bylaw isn’t enforced perfectly: No one checks every day, but it is being enforced consistently, and in response to complaints. That is all that we are asking for here.
If you step back from the discourse and look at what needs to be done, it’s simple. There are few complaints, and many businesses already comply with the regulation. Our audit this past summer shows almost no violations in any of the up-Island towns, and the majority of businesses in Oak Bluffs were found in compliance. Ultimately, for the Oak Bluffs board of health, this is about telling a handful of businesses during their annual check-in, “Hey, you have to stop selling this size plastic water and soda bottles.” If they don’t, issue them a fine. It’s about working with organizations like VCS to educate businesses. As our boards of health are already tasked with enforcing the plastic bag ban, it would have been an effective and efficient way to move forward.
Importantly, despite some businesses dragging their feet, the ban is working, because many respected the vote and made the necessary changes. We must not let the complacency of a few undo the efforts and important progress already made by so many.
During this recent meeting, Oak Bluffs health agent Alexa Arieta said, “We must push forward with offering alternatives to people. How do you take something away and not provide clear alternatives to people?”
VCS agrees with the need for alternatives. But we already have them. Since the Plastic Free MV students started working on this campaign in 2018, the numbers of alternative products — metal cans with twist tops, glass bottles in smaller serving sizes — have increased manyfold (just walk your grocery aisle to confirm), not to mention the popularity of reusable water bottles. After all, it is reusable products and a “bring your own” culture that is the ultimate waste and energy reduction goal, and is our VCS message.
And as far as increased infrastructure to support reusable options, this must work in tandem with policy, not in place of it. That is why VCS has installed nearly 40 water bottle refill stations across the Island. VCS donates these stations to towns, who are then responsible for installation. With added financial support from an Oak Bluffs resident who was excited about the project, VCS donated four stations to Oak Bluffs in 2019; of those, only one has been installed. More than five years later, the remaining three are likely sitting in a storage closet, collecting dust.
Because of this, you can see why it’s been confusing for VCS to sit through three hours of meetings over the past six months and listen to the town government propose ideas on how to reduce single-use plastic, while existing policies to curb the problem go unenforced, and the supporting alternatives, already given to them, sit unattended to. The end result? Unnecessary delay. And with it a daily accumulation of plastic waste, not to mention the fact that Oak Bluffs voters gave a clear directive four years ago that is being disregarded.
On a more significant level, and with broad implications beyond this specific issue, lack of enforcement of this bylaw shows that our towns can selectively follow through on initiatives voted for by their citizens.
We have a system of government which rests on particular bodies and protocols — in our case, the existence of various town boards, and Town Meeting forums where we vote to adopt or decline financial, zoning, and general rules for our communities. This is our local architecture of democracy. If our town officials are not upholding the outcomes of these systems, we are setting a precedent that at the very least makes citizens feel disenfranchised from their voice and vote, and at the worst makes community agreement on rules and governance optional for any willing to be noncompliant.
VCS is unwilling to let this go unchallenged. We hope this raises a similar concern with residents. Please take the time to let the Oak Bluffs select board and board of health know how you feel, because our voices do make a difference. But only if we use them.
One of our biggest disappointments and confusions from this process is the missed opportunity for meaningful collaboration between town government, local organizations, and concerned citizen advocates. We should seize moments like this to work together, now more than ever.
Zada Clarke is the director of advocacy and community organizing at the Vineyard Conservation Society; Samantha Look is the executive director of the nonprofit.
