LYNN — The Board of Health voted, 2-0, to ban single-use plastic bags in the city on Tuesday night, with health officials saying the decision was made to be more environmentally friendly.
The ban will go into effect Sept. 1. One board member was absent.
“The benefit of the bag does not outweigh the damage it does,” said Chairman of the Board Ronald Dupuis, before the vote.
Lynn joins 96 other Massachusetts communities that have banned plastic bags, including Marblehead, Swampscott, Boston, Salem and Danvers.
Shoppers, including those at grocery stores, will now have to bring their own reusable bags into stores if they don’t want paper bags.
The vote coincides with a legislative effort by state Rep. Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) and state Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), who have proposed a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags.
“I’m very happy the board passed the ban,” said Michele Desmarais, the city’s public health director. “Rep. Ehrlich has started a statewide regulation to go ahead and put forth banning plastic bags in all of Massachusetts, so Lynn is moving up with it and trying to get ahead and at least start to make the environment litter-free and more safe for the marine life.”
Desmarais recommended a later implementation of the ban to the board to give businesses more time to plan for the change. The original proposal was for the change to go into effect July 1.
The vote came after a brief public hearing, where no one spoke in opposition.
Speaking in favor of the ban were a group of teens who got the movement to ban plastic started in Lynn.
The group of girls who lobbied city officials for the ban are from the Beach Sisters, a partnership between Northeastern University Marine Science Center and Girls Inc. The program’s mission is to promote protecting the environment through leadership training and hands-on learning.
The girls spoke about the importance of keeping plastic out of the ocean and protecting marine life in a coastal community like Lynn, and reducing litter by keeping the bags out of the streets and trees.
“It’s time to beautify the city and make it prettier for everyone,” said Mateo Velez, a Lynn resident who founded Orvel, which states its mission as raising awareness on plastic pollution and other environmental problems in low-income, underserved communities.
Massachusetts groups representing supermarkets and food stores have been opposing plastic bans throughout the state, calling them anti-consumer and anti-choice, but appeared to offer conditional support last week for the proposed legislation that would ban the bags statewide.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
