Barrington store to remove plastic bags

BARRINGTON, R.I. (WPRI) - Shoppers will no longer be able to receive plastic bags from at least one Barrington store.

At a public meeting on a proposed town-wide plastic bag ban, representatives from the Shaw's Supermarket chain announced it will be removing plastic bags from its Barrington location.

"In talking with that seems to be overwhelming sentiment in Barrington, we feel they are in favor of this. So we want to meet their needs, and we'll see what happens," said Shaw's External Communications Manager Steve Sylven.

Several local groups, including the town's conservation commission are still calling for the town council to move forward with the proposed ban.

"We are swimming in these bags we don't need," said Conservation Commission Chair Cynthia Fuller, "This is an easy thing we can do, and I think that most people want to."

Other groups are fighting the proposed ordinance.

David Asselin of the American Progressive Bag Alliance flew in from Washington, D.C. for Wednesday's meeting.

"If the town of Barrington would look at consumer education programs on the recycling of plastic bags, that's a much more environmentally friendly way of taking care of this issue than just outright banning a product," Asselin said.

The town council is scheduled to discuss the proposed ban at its September meeting, and could vote on the plan in October.

If passed, Barrington would become the first community in Rhode Island to ban plastic bags.