By Elisa Ruiz Martinez
Hamden residents have won a hard fought battle against plastic bags. The town council met on Tuesday to whether a ban for plastic bags should be approved or not.
Connecticut towns and cities continue to push towards a ban on single use plastic bags. The latest it’s Hamden where the town leaders voted in approval for the ban on Tuesday night.
“A lot more people are becoming more environmentally conscious, a lot more people are trying to save the Earth, and I myself already don’t really use plastic bags unless I absolutely have to, so it’s a good thing that now Hamden is forcing me to not use plastic bags,” Quinnipiac student Nhung An said.
Some council members say the ban will save the town money from cleaning up plastic bags and help the environment at the same time.
“Everyone starts to do it, especially is forcing people instead of making them make the choice so if everyone starts to get rid of the plastic bags it makes for better environment,” Quinnipiac student Kyle Gaughan said.
“Just in general plastics are very bad for the environment, plastics in any kind of way, and we also use a lot of plastics bags…” An said.
The ban applies to plastic checkout bags of any thickness or size. Some stores in Hamden started this initiative like Tyme & Season Natural Market which stopped using plastic bags six months ago. They offer paper, but encourage customers to use reusable bags.
Most stores have 6-9 months to ditch plastic bags and Quinnipiac students see this as a step forward in the community.
“I think it’s a good idea, I think that it’s a step in the right direction towards going for more green and environmental process and I think that it’s a good start because if Hamden does it then who knows maybe some towns around Hamden would start to adopt the same idea,” Gaughan said.