Plastic Bag Ban In Effect on Most of Martha’s Vineyard

VINEYARD HAVEN – The new year is bringing a change to all but one of the towns on Martha’s Vineyard – a single use plastic bag ban.

All communities on the island except Oak Bluffs have adopted bylaws to ban the bags and require paper bags to be made from recycled goods, which took effect Sunday.

Vineyard Conservation Society Education and Youth Coordinator Samantha Look says the ban will help sustain the viability of recycling and keep plastic out of the ocean.

“The more that we learn about what’s happening and the shear amount of plastic that’s getting into the ocean, as an island community and the Cape, I think it’s something that we all want to learn everything we can about and do everything we can to change it,” she said.

Look said that if the planet follows the current path of the amount of material getting into the water, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050.

“There are many brilliant uses for plastic,” Look said. “It’s an incredible material. It’s light. It’s strong. It’s Cheap. It’s durable. But it doesn’t want to be used for every disposable that we come in contact with. There’s just too much of it.”

Look said getting used to carrying reusable bags is something everyone can do.

“The impact of the change could be huge,” Look said.

The Vineyard Conservation Society is in discussions with Oak Bluffs officials to get a bag ban to town meeting voters within the next year.

More than 40 towns in the state have approved a similar ban or are pending approval.

Barnstable, Chatham, Falmouth, Harwich, Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Dennis and Mashpee are towns on the Cape that have approved similar initiatives.