‘Not the Time’ for Plastic Water Bottle Ban, Select Board Says

February 12, 2025
• Green Needham sought support for three initiatives to reduce plastics in town at the Select Board’s meeting Tuesday, including a plastic water bottle ban.

The Select Board sponsored two of three proposed bylaws to reduce plastics in Needham, but unanimously decided not to move forward with a plastic water bottle ban before the Annual Town Meeting in May.

Board members supported a “Skip the Stuff” bylaw that would prevent restaurants from automatically providing accessories with takeout orders, such as plastic utensils, napkins and condiments. They also conditionally backed a complete ban of black plastic, pending a public hearing scheduled for March 11.

On the water bottle ban, however, the board expressed apprehension. Tariffs on aluminum — which could serve as a plastic alternative — as well as increased tax assessments and other uncertainties mean that such a ban would negatively impact local businesses, several members said.

Skip the Stuff is a “no-brainer,” member Cathy Dowd said, and a black plastic ban could be effective, should businesses support the measure. While Dowd said banning plastic water bottles has significant health benefits, the cost of doing so is just as huge.

“I would like to get there,” Dowd said. “I think maybe now is not the time to get there.”

Vice Chair Heidi Frail similarly opposed that measure, with the hope that some action is taken at the state level.

“I do agree that the risk exists, I just have a really hard time imposing this on the businesses right now,” Frail said, “and I’m not sure when that will change, so it feels like a bit of a cop-out… But the reality is that our businesses are struggling, and I don’t want to make it any worse.”

It’s the second time the board has weighed in on a potential plastic water bottle ban — the articles’ proponents, Green Needham, put forward a similar initiative last spring before pulling it from the Town Meeting warrant at the last minute. The advocacy group successfully passed a ban on other single-use plastic items, including Styrofoam.

Representatives from Green Needham presented the proposals to the board on Tuesday and fielded questions before the board’s vote. The board finalized their Town Meeting warrant later that night.

Kathy Raiz, of Green Needham, said she expected some pushback on their water bottle ban, as she previously defended the effort last year. Still, the board’s rejection of the measure was not her ideal outcome.

“We’re disappointed that the Select Board is delaying any action on water bottles, especially considering the health and environmental impacts, and given that 28 other towns and cities in Massachusetts have made a successful transition away from the plastic water bottles,” Raiz said to Needham Local, “but we certainly are completely sympathetic to the challenges that businesses are navigating right now.”

Local business owners, as well as Greg Reibman from the Charles River Regional Chamber, vocally opposed the water bottle ban during public comment.

Steve Volante of Volante Farms called Skip the Stuff a “win-win for everybody” and highlighted the support the measure has garnered in Newton. However, banning plastic water bottles, he said, will push customers into neighboring towns for water.

Hedy Jarras, owner of Sweet Tomatoes, said the ban “would be disastrous.”

“As a small business owner, the bottom line means everything,” Jarras said.

It’s unclear how financially impactful such a ban would be, but Volante said estimates from last year, from Green Needham, put the cost at around $2,000 per business.

As businesses face tariffs, as well as the consequences of immigration enforcement, a plastic water bottle ban would further hurt them, Reibman said.

“It’s just not the right time to put this burden on the backs of our small business owners,” Reibman said of the proposed ban.

Green Needham asked businesses to voluntarily stock plastic alternatives, such as aluminum water bottles, but in her observations, Raiz hasn’t seen them. Needham Public Schools have already switched to aluminum and boxed water bottles in all their schools.

Select Board member Josh Levy argued that banning plastic water bottles poses a different kind of health risk.

“I think that access to drinking water is really important, and I don’t like drinking out of plastic water bottles if I can avoid it. Sometimes I can’t, though. Sometimes I don’t have another container at my disposal,” Levy said.

“And if it’s a choice between dehydration or drinking from a plastic water bottle, I’m going to choose the plastic water bottle,” he added.

Raiz reiterated the proposal would not outright ban water and that stores would theoretically carry aluminum water bottles, but Levy said that’s “not a practical option.” Should stores not stock such alternatives, people may not have access to water, he said.

Unlike last year, Green Needham decided to seek Select Board sponsorship, as opposed to submitting the proposals as citizens’ petitions. That way, the public could better provide feedback ahead of time, not just on the floor of Town Meeting immediately preceding a vote, Raiz explained. The decision to do so followed a discussion with Moderator Michael Fee and the Select Board, she added.

Under the black plastic ban, Reibman suggested exempting containers four ounces or smaller, since both black and white plastic aren’t recyclable at that size, he said.

The proposal does not exempt those items, mostly because food in any black plastic could be contaminated, Raiz said. Black plastic is made from recycled electronics, meaning they can contain heavy metals and flame retardants that, when heated, could migrate into food. An across-the-board ban helps to simplify the law, Raiz said.

As with previous plastic bylaws, the Board of Health would enforce the bylaws by complaint.

The Select Board plans to hold a public hearing on its black plastic warrant article on March 11.

Chair Kevin Keane suggested a plastic bottle ban could have passed last May, if Green Needham hadn’t removed it. In an interview, Raiz she heard that before, but had hoped recent research on the harms plastics perpetuate would sway the board.

“I guess we’re not quite there yet,” she said.