The Town of Mashpee’s newly approved town seal.
MASHPEE – Mashpee voters decided to repeal the commercial single-use plastic water bottle ban at this week’s annual town meeting.
Those against the ban approved last October said that water should be readily accessible, though Virginia Scharfenberg—one of the original petitioners for the ban—said retailers would adapt.
“If there is still a demand for single-use water containers, then they will do as other small shop owners around the Cape in the multiple towns that have enacted a commercial van have already done; they will provide an alternative packaging ,” said Scharfenberg at the meeting.
The select board did not recommend the repeal, while the finance committee did.
Town voters also approved a number of other articles, including the adoption of a new town seal and numerous articles designed to help protect the region’s water quality.
Select board member Andrew Gottlieb said that some of the articles, including those aimed to help protect Santuit Pond from nutrient pollution from stormwater runoff, are long overdue.
“What we can’t control is the rain. And the reality of the world we live in today is that it rains a lot more. It rains harder for shorter periods of time for more frequency than it used to. The world has changed,” said Gottlieb.
About Grady Culhane
