Plastic Water Bottles Now Illegal

[krome2ez]

What's next? <_</>/>

Sep 07, 2012

Concord, Mass., is first to ban

small plastic water bottles

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

Updated 2012-09-07 6:21 PM

Aquafina

Concord, Mass., has become one of the first communities in the nation to ban the sale of small plastic water bottles, the Boston Globe reports.

The law, which takes effect Jan 1., makes the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles of 1 liter or less illegal.

First-time offenders will get a warning, second-time violators can be fined $25, and third-time offenders can be fined $50, the newspaper says.

It was the third attempt by environmentalists to get the bylaw in place. The state attorney general rejected the first effort in 2010, saying the bylaw approved in a town meeting was not validly written. A second attempt was rejected by the town meeting.

This week, Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled that the latest version, which passed in April, does not violate state or federal laws.

The bylaw allows an exemption during emergencies and it can be suspended outright if it proves too difficult or too expensive to enforce, the newspaper says.

The International Bottled Water Association, which represents 640 U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers, says it will continue to challenge the measure, the Boston Herald reports.

"This ban deprives residents of ... their choice of beverage, and visitors, who come to this birthplace of American independence, a basic freedom gifted to them by the actions in this town more than 200 years ago," the association says in a statement.

The town of 17,000 people was the site of the first armed conflict of the American Revolution.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/09/Concord-bans-sale-of-single-serve-plastic-water-bottles-100000000002216/concord-massachusetts-water-bottles-ban/70000003/1#.UOLyQKyWRnA

Edited January 1, 2013 by krome2ez

[fnbplanet]

Just water, and not sodas? Even I could knock that one out of the park.

[DinarDiva007]

I wish that people would just do the right thing without all this government nonsense. I am passionate about the planet and animals and yes all the plastic is hurtful but why not go the positive route instead of the negative route. Make recycling more accessible. I live in Houston and it is very diffucult to recycle here, but I am moving to Austin and it seems they are a little more with it. When I lived in Florida it was pretty easy too. I am not sure what the situation is there but we do need to get control over all the plastic!

[jeepguy]

bring back returnable bottles and give kids a way to make pocket change

[dog53]

So I am taking this as to many of these type containers are winding up on the ground as litter? Is that the problem? We don't really have that problem here. Recycle containers are provided to everyone in the county and you simply place all plastic in the container and they pick it up every 2 weeks. I have seen few tossed here and there but nothing to impose a new law over. Sounds to me like they need to bring back those old $100 fines for littering in Concord. Just like seat belts people have to be trained and nothing does it better then having to reach for one`s wallet.

Edited January 1, 2013 by dog53

[RodandStaff]

I'm not a big fan of plastic bottles anyway... I just don't like laws crammed down my throat. I filter my own water and carry the water in 1/2 gallon juice jugs for work or wherever. If we are going into a public meeting we use a smaller reused cleaned water bottle. I can't see justifying using so many plastic bottles for something so common that we use every day. I guess in that respect I am old school, I try to make the most of what resources we have. It's funny how this younger generation thinks they came up with the idea of "going green" when in fact most of the older generation used their resources in a much more conservative way. I never would have thought about using a plastic bottle for each quart of water consumed growing up. Using plastic however is not good idea in the summer anyway as most of you probably know. Don't leave water in those plastic bottles in your hot car... that reaction can lead to cancer.

Bottom line... and I agree with a previous comment... it's sad this kind of logic has to be legislated, we should be able to figure this one out for ourselves and not face fines and penalties for the process of working out the details.

Man that... ... me!!!

Thanks for the post Krome!!!

[SherryB]

Man that... ... me!!!

Tryed to smash that darn bug, lol

[sxsess]

If and when they ban them in Texas I will make it a point to dispose every piece of plastic out of my car window as possible. These states that ban guns, plastic, soft drink sizes, etc are a bunch of freakin morons. I pray Texas doesn't stoop to the level of these dimwit idiots.

[Off-the-grid]

I like the idea of bringing back the returnable deposit. I would take this concept a step further and make return deposits mandatory on all consumables packaged in recyclable materials. This could reduce the trash being tossed willy nilly, and what is tossed is more likely to be picked up by someone who needs the money.

The material can then be picked up from the stores and recycled so it does not end up in the landfills, and reduces our dependence on oil a little more.

When it comes to getting the general public to change their behavior, hey, cash is king!

Peace, and a very Prosperous New Year!!!

[dontlop]

good thats more for us ..anything else they dont want in mass .. ?how about oil .. they can just put windmills on their cars ..stupid liberals ..

[PD41]

Are you hydrated ? Lol.

This new generation can't go anywhere without there water. What a joke.

Young people low on money, complaining. But they always have money for toys and water.

Seen my nephews pull up with a case of water in the back of there car, ' Do you need water ' they say.

I'm like ' Huh, water ? ' ' Got any beer ' ?

I worked 5 summers in the desert down by El Centro Ca, Blythe, and Phoenix.

We never bought water, Igloo type jugs.

115 degrees working outdoors, no problem.

Modern day kids have never drank off a garden hose, lol.

Coca Cola making millions off Dasani. What a joke.

People complain about the gas at $3.50 a gallon then they pay $1 for 20 oz of water ????

Forget the water. People have survived thousands of years without water in plastic bottles. GET OVER IT.

PD41

[RodandStaff]

WOW PD41... That picture is my point exactly... and this generation thinks it's "going green"!!! Take a nice sturdy water bottle to work and reuse it over and over again. Better yet.. filter your own water so you don't have to pay so much for it, and you can get all the chemicals out of it before you drink it as well. That's called "common sense", but I guess these young folks think it's o.k. to pay $1.00 or more per bottle for something that should really only cost a penny or two.

[rope]

So if we are being told to separate our trash to "recycle"....plastic bottles, glass etc.......why are they in the land fills? I thought the idea of "separating your trash" was for them to be recycled.... to be kept out of land fills So apparently the plastic can't be recycled for anything? Hmmmmm......

It would appear "being under my rock"....isn't so bad a place after all......I do occasionally come out to drink from the garden hose......I liked that, brought back a warm summer day, on this very frosty, chilly January morning

[Jaxinjersey]

I never understood the concept of buying water in the first place! Never bought a bottle of water in my life... guess I'm just not that thirsty!

[sportfisher]

What's next? />/>

Sep 07, 2012

Concord, Mass., is first to ban

small plastic water bottles

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

Updated 2012-09-07 6:21 PM

Aquafina

Concord, Mass., has become one of the first communities in the nation to ban the sale of small plastic water bottles, the Boston Globe reports.

The law, which takes effect Jan 1., makes the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles of 1 liter or less illegal.

First-time offenders will get a warning, second-time violators can be fined $25, and third-time offenders can be fined $50, the newspaper says.

It was the third attempt by environmentalists to get the bylaw in place. The state attorney general rejected the first effort in 2010, saying the bylaw approved in a town meeting was not validly written. A second attempt was rejected by the town meeting.

This week, Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled that the latest version, which passed in April, does not violate state or federal laws.

The bylaw allows an exemption during emergencies and it can be suspended outright if it proves too difficult or too expensive to enforce, the newspaper says.

The International Bottled Water Association, which represents 640 U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers, says it will continue to challenge the measure, the Boston Herald reports.

"This ban deprives residents of ... their choice of beverage, and visitors, who come to this birthplace of American independence, a basic freedom gifted to them by the actions in this town more than 200 years ago," the association says in a statement.

The town of 17,000 people was the site of the first armed conflict of the American Revolution.

http://content.usato.../1#.UOLyQKyWRnA

they should ban them solely because these companies are commiting mass murder by cancer through dioxin consumption.

[PD41]

So if we are being told to separate our trash to "recycle"....plastic bottles, glass etc.......why are they in the land fills? I thought the idea of "separating your trash" was for them to be recycled.... to be kept out of land fills

Times have changed. The USA/Planet population is huge.

We can not be a throw away world anymore.

Recycling is big business. I work at the port loading and unloading trains, containers.

You would not believe how much used cardboard, plastic, metal we ship overseas.

China, Japan Taiwan buys.

Then you get to buy your trash back at retail stores here in the USA as new products.

[bamagirl]

If and when they ban them in Texas I will make it a point to dispose every piece of plastic out of my car window as possible. These states that ban guns, plastic, soft drink sizes, etc are a bunch of freakin morons. I pray Texas doesn't stoop to the level of these dimwit idiots.

Throwing plastic out of your window isn't solving any problems....

[RodandStaff]

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment f or future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truely recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.

[sxsess]

Screw this green BS. Look at the liberal morons (Obama) with the billions wasted on these so-called green energy companies that are bankrupt with taxpayer money. Liberal ideology fails again and again, but the US continues down this path of destruction. The US has got to have the dumbest people in the world per capita.

[KiaKaha]

I like the idea of bringing back the returnable deposit. I would take this concept a step further and make return deposits mandatory on all consumables packaged in recyclable materials. This could reduce the trash being tossed willy nilly, and what is tossed is more likely to be picked up by someone who needs the money.

When we lived in Cali, they DID have a mandatory deposit on recyclables... but the only people who would bother were the poor folk who didn't consume as much as the richer ones who used more but didn't want to be bothered. I remember taking 3 large trash bags full of Pepsi cans to the recyclers, thinking I'd at least be able to put gas in the car... got a voucher for $6.34. Yeah, it put a little gas in the van, but at the time we were driving a carpool van because we were so broke we couldn't afford to buy a smaller, eco-friendly car, the 14-seater was given to us by someone who felt sorry for us. We weren't thinking of being tree-huggers, we just needed money! I continued to save and collect cans, but my husband laughed at me because it cost more to drive to the recyclers than we got from the cans sometimes.

Then they instituted the recycling trash bins... you were supposed to separate your trash before putting it in the bin. Ok, with 4 young kids and hubby's aging parents in the house, that was a ridiculous burden on our time. We did separate as often as possible, and taught the kids to do the same, but what a PITA! To this day, our kids will ask if they are supposed to use the blue bin or the brown one, even tho we no longer live in Cali and no longer have to separate our trash.

I'm sure there is a better way, but this isn't it.

Did remind me, tho, to go buy a filtering system when I go to Walmart today... crossed between a pitcher, a 2.5L family jug or just the personal size. Why not drink tap water? Because when I was working, we had a filter on the tap water that went to the soda machine and it was a clear container with a white filter... within 2 weeks of being changed, the white filter was neon green from all the algae... not to mention the nasty taste. It was great for the first 2 years we lived here, but the last 6 have seen a major decline in the water quality and I can't bring myself to drink it... not even in juices. My family couldn't care less, they don't notice the taste and think I'm a little off to worry about the algae. *shrug* Their choice.

KK

MADD for Heather