The independent bookstore is known for offering an eclectic collection of new, used, rare, antiquarian, and out-of-print books, complemented by clever displays.
In her letter Carol Diehl writes: "The petition to repeal the single-serve plastic water bottle ban might never even have come up if the proponents of the ban had, from the beginning, presented it in a way that related it specifically to the needs of Great Barrington."
The divide between the natives and those from outside the area is as wide as it's ever been. Don't take my word for it or judge based only on Monday night's meeting. As of Tuesday afternoon the Great Barrington Community Board Facebook page contained more than 500 comments.
At the special town meeting Aug. 6, people under the age of 18 will not be allowed to be present, cutting off the voice of the next generation...And we will be the ones forced to deal with choices that you — the generations before us — made, choices that we were barred from speaking about.
In her letter to the editor, Sharon Coleman writes: “China will no longer take our recycled materials. All of a sudden material collected on the street may not have a place to go.”
In their letter Chris and Matt Massiero, owners of Guido's Fresh Marketplace write: "As small-business owners, we are in the unique position to make business decisions that can change the future, both for our present community and all the future generations we hope will inherit this planet.
In his letter to the editor Mickey Friedman writes: "Omaha, Nebraska, for example, has a comprehensive plastics recycling program and makes it especially easy for residents to separate their plastics in a special envelope."
The approval of the plastic water bottle ban from residents at the annual town meeting followed a lengthy and impassioned appeal at the annual town meeting from three Monument Mountain Regional High School students.
In her letter to the editor, Marj Wexler writes: "We urgently need consumer pressure on bottling companies to challenge the unsustainable practice of producing new plastic bottles."
The new bylaw effectively bans the sale of single-use plastic noncarbonated water bottles of one liter in size or less within the town limits of Great Barrington. It will take effect May 1, 2019.
Rome was not built in a day. Banning the sale of single-use plastic bottles is a start. It builds the momentum begun by Concord, and creates a model for other towns to emulate.
While a long list of businesses and other organizations said they supported the new bylaw, it did not sit did well with a number of other merchants, who felt the ban would harm their businesses or who objected on the grounds of legislative overreach.
What started off as a civic exercise turned into a lesson in how a righteous cause can gather steam, convince fence-sitters, transition to a generational issue and overwhelm the opposition.
