GARWOOD — On Thursday, during a regular meeting of the Garwood mayor and council, the borough’s governing body introduced a new ordinance that would modify the local code to prohibit restaurants from providing condiment packets, single-use utensils and straws in take-out and delivery orders unless customers request them.
Restaurants would still be allowed to offer single-use utensils and condiments packets in self-service stations, but would not be permitted to include straws or single-use coffee stirrers without customers asking for them. The ordinance (24-09) is intended to reduce waste and help support Garwood’s environmental sustainability.
Ordinance 24-09 was moved to adoption for the next mayor and council meeting, with Mayor Jen Blumenstock, Councilwoman Karina Boto, Councilman Sean Foley, Council President Vincent Kearney, Councilman Marc Lazarow and Councilwoman Clarissa Nolde voting yes and Councilwoman Kimberly Salmon voting no.
Garwood residents voiced their disapproval of the ordinance during the public-comment portion of the evening’s meeting. Resident John Bartley urged the council to change this to a resolution instead of an ordinance, adding that enacting this regulation felt uncessicarily burdonsome.
“This ordinance signifies everything wrong with the 2024 Democratic Party; it reinforces the stereotype that there’s no detail of day-to-day life so trivial, so small, that we can’t regulate, right down to what we use to stir a cup of coffee,” he said. “It’s crazy.”
Mr. Bartley added that while he understands the motive of wanting to better the environment, every resident of Garwood, including members of the governing body, has personal habits that impact their carbon footprint.
Resident Michele Capobianco also addressed the mayor and council, stating that she felt this should have been a community initiative, giving the green team the opportunity to visit restaurants and educate businesses on potential cost savings and having a positive impact on the environment.
“I think a conversation is so much more useful than someone just going out and handing a flyer to somebody,” she said. “I just feel this should have been a conversation and not an ordinance.”
Bill Nierstedt, who sits on the Garwood Planning Board, was the only resident to defend Ordinance 24-09, citing that resolutions only last a year and mean nothing unless there are ordinances to back them up. “I’ve learned over the years with litter, and everything else that we as the American public can make them change, is through their pocket,” Mr. Nierstedt said. “Without them being hit in the pocket, they have to pay something, they don’t change, so it’s all well and good to say a resolution is great, but a resolution isn’t worth the paper it’s written on three years later.”
Mr. Nierstedt also urged anyone opposed to this ordinance to join in on borough cleanups to see how many condiment packets and single-use plastic items are discarded.
Councilman Lazarow also defended the ordinance and disagreed with the notion that it would place an overwhelming burden on restaurant owners.
“I think it’s a question of values, and the question is of slight inconveniences versus the value of a cleaner, more sustainable environment,” he said. “To me, I value a cleaner, more sustainable environment over a slight inconvenience of maybe not getting a single-use plastic.”
Ordinance 24-09 will be up for adoption at the next meeting of the Garwood mayor and council, scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 21.
