Newport to Consider Plastic Bag Ban

NEWPORT, RI—Plastic bags might be going the way of the dodo in Newport after the City Council on Wednesday voted 6-1 to direct the city administration to study the possibility of a citywide ban.

The resolution, spearheaded by Councilor John Florez, paves the way for the city's administration, Planning Board and Energy and Environment Commission to study the issue and develop a proposed ordinance for the council to consider by early next year.

The council passed an amended version of Florez's original ordinance to accommodate a desire of some councilors to ensure there was adequate opportunity for the public to weigh in on the issue.

Councilor Marco Camacho was the lone vote against the proposal. He argued that he did not have adequate data to support the resolution as written, emphasizing that he is not opposed to a possible ban in general. He said that a reliance on paper bags posed its own set of problems. Paper bags use more energy to produce than plastic bags, he said, and their decomposition produces carbon dioxide in nature and generates methane in the anaerobic environment of a landfill. While he thought he'd be supporting the proposal out of the gate, simple research showed "troubling statistics on paper.

"Neither [paper or plastic] is good and each has an environmental consequence," Camacho said. "I'd like to see a more full report so I can make an educated, informed decision."

But other councilors and several members of the public said that there is a tremendous amount of research that shows plastic bans can work and are an important step toward pushing people to change their habits, including ditching paper bags for reusable bags.

Florez noted that many countries around the world have banned plastic bags with success. Forty-three percent of marine mammals are carrying some sort of plastic in their bodies. For birds, it's 44 percent. For sea turtles, it's 86 percent. Toxic chemicals from plastic bags end up in the food chain.

"This is a public health issue, Florez said. "single-use plastic bags cause irreparable harm to our oceans and waterways, and the time has come to phase them out."

Dave McLaughlin, director of Clean Ocean Access, said that there is plenty of local data to support the bag ban. In a three year period, more than 9,600 plastic bags have been plucked from nearby shores by volunteers during coastal cleanups, he said.

Businesses find that their customers get excited to learn that their local store owners are doing something with a global impact, McLaughlin said. And while the bag ban won't solve the overwhelming problem with humankind's demands on the planet, it's a step in the right direction.

"This promotes environmental stewardship," McLaughlin said. "It's really the mindset. . .We're the Ocean State. It makes sense for us to take care of the ocean."

If approved, Newport would join Barrington as the only communities in Rhode Island to ban single-use plastic bags.

This story is being updated. The meeting during which the vote occurred is still in session.