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

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, .

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. as it had become known, cited several reasons to support repealing the ban, including: 

1. The ban does not reduce plastic waste or help the environment.
2. The ban jeopardizes personal liberty by taking away Concordians’ freedom of choice.
3. The ban compromises our community’s health and safety and promotes unhealthy drink alternatives.
4. The ban hurts local businesses and counters the idea of “buying local.” 

Those in favor of the ban were backed by Corporate Accountability International and Food and Water Watch, two organizations with radical agendas. Unfortunately, “Banners” used intimidation and misrepresentation of information to suppress freedom of speech and win support. 

“As we have said all along, this ban does nothing more than restrict freedom of choice and focus town resources on enforcing an arbitrary ban on a safe, legal and healthy product. We are not only disheartened by the outcome of the vote, but by the misleading tactics used by the outside interest groups in favor of upholding the ban,” said Robin Garrison, petitioner of Article 30 and co-founder of CRCC. “I am proud of the fact-based grassroots campaign CRCC ran to support personal freedom and local businesses, and am disappointed by the outcome of tonight’s Town Meeting vote. This has been and continues to be an ineffective initiative that actually hurts the environment and encourages unhealthy behavior. Concord’s ban is not leading the way, we’re dragging people.”

CRCC is particularly disappointed in the vote considering statements made by local health organizations that supported repealing the ban.

C. Gregory Martin, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Emerson Hospital spoke on behalf of Emerson Hospital in favor of repealing the ban. A Condordian who is a kidney transplant recipient also spoke about the need to drink bottled water because of the need to hydrate often and avoid contaminants.

“From the beginning, our campaign has been a positive attempt to tackle the issue of reducing Concord’s carbon footprint without wasting town resources on enforcing a symbolic ban on the healthiest packaged beverage on the market,” said Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore, a small business owner in Concord and Executive Committee member of CRCC. “It is extraordinarily disheartening and unfortunate that our opponents resorted to intimidation of small business owners who supported the sale of bottled water and restricted the free speech of private residents by stealing or vandalizing yard signs in favor of Article 30.

“CRCC has consistently said that the right way to make our community greener is not to arbitrarily ban a product, but to invest in upgraded recycling programs and conservation efforts for all of Concord’s residents. We are thankful to our supporters for organizing and voting at Town Meeting as we transform Concord into a place where both liberty and the environment can be protected,” said Akehurst-Moore. “We are extremely disappointed with the outcome of tonight’s Town Meeting, and think it sends the wrong message to ban a safe product like bottled water.  The irony is not lost on us that in the town where liberty and independence took its first breath that we have now actively suppressed the freedom to choose how to drink water. Let’s be clear: This ban does absolutely nothing to protect the environment and the public health of Concord residents, as consumers simply will choose other bottled drinks such as soda, sport drinks, and artificial juices that use far more plastic than water and are high in sugar.”