CRCC Responds to Town Meeting Vote Upholding Concord's Bottle Bylaw

Statement says, 'Liberty loses in Concord on bottled water ban.'

  The following was provided by Robin Garrision, the petitioner for Article 30 and co-founder of Concord Residents for Consumer Choice, a group of Concord residents seeking to repeal the town's bylaw prohibiting the sale of drinking water in single-serve PET bottles. At the Concord Town Meeting on Wednesday night, Article 30 to repeal the ban on single-serving PET bottled water was narrowly defeated by just 66 votes out of the more than 1,300 cast. Members of Concord Residents for Consumer Choice (CRCC), a grassroots advocacy group of Concord citizens seeking to repeal the ban, organized a townwide effort to draw attention to the adverse effects of the ban which has been in place since January. The “Free the Water” campaign, as it had …

•  7 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letters to the Editor

LETTER: 'Bottled Water and Tap Water Can and Should Coexist'

Ripley Hill Road resident Adriana Cohen explains why she's in favor of repealing Concord's bottled water bylaw at annual Town Meeting.

To the Editor, I am a member of Concord Residents for Consumer Choice (CRCC), a coalition of Concord conservationists and consumer choice advocates who believe in having the liberty to buy legal, safe products without government interference or penalty. I am a recycler, a tap water drinker and a bottled water drinker. Believe it or not, this is not a contradiction. Bottled water and tap water can and should co-exist. Neither the government nor the private sector should have an exclusively monopoly on the water supply. Hence the reason we have anti-monopoly laws in this country. Giving either sector a monopoly on water simply affords too much control and power over the masses as water is a life critical resource. Remember that our …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

You Ask, Patch Answers

What’s Up With This ‘Free The Water’ Campaign?

Each week, we set out to answer a question on the mind of Concord Patch readers as part of our You Ask, Patch Answers column. This focus of this week’s column is the FreetheWater.org campaign and website that’s been making a bit of a splash of late.

  Looks like the Concord Residents for Consumer Choice group has a new website and branding campaign pushing for the repeal of Concord’s revolutionary bottle-banning bylaw. According to members of the group and a sentence at the bottom of website's homepage, FreeTheWater.org “is supported by Concord Residents for Consumer Choice, a local coalition of concerned citizens.” The original group, Concord Residents for Consumer Choice, is seeking to repeal a bylaw prohibiting the sale of non-sparking, unflavored drinking water in single-serve PET bottles of 1 liter or less. The bylaw was approved by annual Town Meeting last April, was ratified by the Attorney General’s office a few months later and took effect earlier this year. Concord resident …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Patrick Ball

9:27 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Stephanie, if I'm not mistaken, it actually passed the first time (2010), failed the second time (2011) and passed again on a third try, in 2012. In 2010, Town Meeting approved a bottle ban that was not written as a bylaw. Arguing that there were "no teeth" to article, the selectmen opted against trying to enforce the ban, and it was later rejected by the Attorney General's office. -pb   more ›