Brunswick Bans Bags!

A year, almost to the day, after Brunswick banned single-use foam containers, the Town Council voted overwhelmingly to further protect Maine’s environment by adopting an ordinance banning single-use plastic bags.

The new ordinance, which was adopted by the Town Council in March after lengthy discussions and multiple opportunities for public input, will go into effect on September 1, 2017.

Brunswick has been one of the towns leading the way in efforts to conserve and protect Maine’s environment, which is so critical to Maine’s economic well-being. Residents in Brunswick, and neighboring Topsham, which has also adopted ordinances to ban single-use foam containers and curb the use of single-use bags, understand very well how important our environment is to our economic health and quality of life.

This is certainly true along Maine’s vast coastline, which not only draws millions of visitors each year but also supports our seafood industry. Advocates in Brunswick worked tirelessly for more than two years to ensure their fellow residents understand the damage these single-use containers and bags are wreaking on Maine’s environment. They formed Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB), held educational forums, talked with businesses, had countless conversations with residents at the local transfer station, and collected signatures in support of action to reduce the use of these bags and foam containers.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine has been working with residents in communities across Maine who are frustrated at the lack of action on this issue in Augusta. We’ve created our Community Toolkits, which focus on single-use bags, single-use foam containers, and other problems upon which Mainers can take local, effective action. NRCM has worked with several groups like BYOB, which can serve as a model for successful efforts like those in Brunswick.

We congratulate the town of Brunswick and everyone who had a hand in this effort to protect the nature of Maine!

 

Our sustainability radar is always on, and we love to share. Do you have information about a great project helping to make Maine a more sustainable place to call home that you would like to see featured on NRCM’s blog? Guest posts and alerts about interesting sustainability stories are always welcome! If it is good news for our environment and involves Maine or Mainers, it belongs in the spotlight. Please contact Sarah Nichols, NRCM Sustainable Maine Director at snichols@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0170.