MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Mass. (State House News Service) — Future visitors to Martha's Vineyard might want to keep their reusable water bottles handy.
Voters in Oak Bluffs approved a bylaw at their annual Town Meeting Saturday that prohibits the sale and distribution of disposable plastic water and soda bottles under 34 ounces. Violations of the ban will result in a written warning for the first offense, a $50 fine for the second offense and a $100 fine for the third, according to the town warrant.
According to the Martha's Vineyard Gazette, Oak Bluffs is the fifth community on the island to adopt the bylaw, which has been promoted by a local student activist group called Plastic Free MV.
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Local business owners pushed back on the ban and proposed instead the creation of a local committee focused on reducing plastics, the Gazette reported.
Voters also approved that proposal Saturday, along with a resolution to voluntarily ban polystyrene. The plastic bottle ban is already in place in Tisbury, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah, while Edgartown will vote on the measure May 22 after it was postponed at last year's Town Meeting.
The Oak Bluffs bylaw goes into effect in May 2022, according to the town warrant.
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Written by Meg McIntyre/SHNS
(Photo: Getty Images)