New Bellingham ordinance passed Monday ‘is going to affect generations to come’
Bellingham residents should start seeing changes in the look of their take-out meals and restaurant doggy bags, because of a new ordinance that bans or limits most single-use plastics.
That means that containers for to-go meals or leftovers likely will be made of compostable material instead of Styrofoam, and customers won’t get straws unless they ask for them.
In addition, the measure requires hotels and motels in Bellingham to use dispensers for shampoo, liquid soap and conditioner, rather than the tiny single-use plastic bottles that the industry has used for years.
“Obviously, this is going to affect generations to come,” said Councilman Dan Hammill, who proposed the measure.
The measure passed unanimously Monday, May 10, and takes effect on July 31, 2022 — two years ahead of a similar measure that passed the state Legislature and is awaiting action by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Hamill told The Bellingham Herald in an interview last week that the state measure allows Bellingham to establish its own single-use plastics ban because city officials and partner agencies, such as Sustainable Connections, have been working to educate restaurant owners and others about voluntary waste reduction.
Bellingham was a pioneer when it banned plastic grocery bags in 2012, he said.
Councilwoman Hollie Huthman, owner of The Shakedown bar and performance venue, said the ordinance directly affects her business and she supports it.
“The way we use plastics is just not sustainable,” Huthman said at Monday’s council meeting.
“As a bar owner and someone who would work a busy bar shift at the end of the night, I would scoop big old handfuls of straws up and out into the garbage,” she said. “At one point I realized — Wow! We fill dumpsters of plastic straws that people use once, every year.”
Plastic straws will be allowed on request, because council members recognize that it’s a necessary tool for people who have trouble swallowing or other disabilities
“I know that this change is going to be really frustrating for some folks,” Huthman said. “I feel ya. Luckily we have Sustainable Connections to help us through it. They have resources, they have a program that’s already been established called Toward Zero Waste. They are there to help us figure out sourcing and product replacement and we have a whole year to do it.”
Councilwoman Hannah Stone said Bellingham can “lead by example” on the environment as it has in the past.
“When the plastic bag ban was first passed, I know that was sort of Earth-shattering for many in the industry that depend on those bags,” she said.
But it’s gained widespread acceptance, Stone said, and was enacted into law statewide at the beginning of 2021.
