Dive Summary:
- Barrington, Rhode Island town council voted last night to draft proposed legislation that would ban the use of disposable plastic bags from retails establishments
- The measure passed with a slim 3 to 2 vote. Representatives from the Rhode Island Retail Merchant Association spoke against the ban while a number of environmental groups, including Environment RI, spoke in favor of it.
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Barrington is just the latest in a growing trend to ban the plastic bags. A number of major cities, including Toronto and Seattle have already passed similar measures
From the article:
In a 3 to 2 vote the Barrington Town Council voted on Monday evening to move forward with drafting an ordinance that would ban plastic bags in the town.
After some discussion Councilwoman Kate Weymouth motioned to move the proposal forward, Council President June Speakman seconded the motion, and council Vice President Jeff Brenner was the third vote.
Cynthia Coyne and William DeWitt voted against the measure.
A number of environmental groups including Environment RI turned out to speak in favor of the proposal and a representative from the Rhode Island Retail Merchant’s association spoke against the measure citing statistics from the American Progressive Bag Alliance.
