Big Y positions itself as “giving you the tools to live the life you deserve”. Quality foods and better nutrition are what this grocery chain offers.

Big Y
348 East Central Street
Franklin, MA 02038
(508) 553-8705
https://www.bigy.com/

The Plastic Checkout Bag Prohibition Bylaw prohibits the “use of thin-film, single use plastic bags at checkout by all retailers in the Town of Franklin.”

The bylaw requires that all retailers who provide checkout bags to customers utilize only recyclable-paper, biodegradable or reusable bags.  (The bylaw provides definitions of each permitted bag.)

Examples of carryout bags allowed under new by-law

In announcing the plastic checkout bag prohibition, Franklin Town Administrator Jamie Hellen noted that Franklin has joined ranks with 58% of all Massachusetts cities and town (381 to date) that have enacted similar bag bans. 

Plastic bag bans or restrictions have been in effect statewide for some time in California and Oregon.  A statewide ban on single-use plastic checkout bags went into effect in New York on March 1, 2020.

Local bans have been enacted by many counties and municipalities in other states across the U.S.

The problem with plastics

Plastics are omnipresent in modern life.  They are durable and can be spun or molded into just about any form or shape needed.  Plastics are inert, making them highly appropriate for the creation of storage containers and bags because they do not interact with the material they store. But plastics do not biodegrade; they do not rot-away like organic matter.  Plastic can last decades and even hundreds of years in the environment without decaying.  What’s worse, plastics do photo-degrade.  Exposure to sunlight breaks down plastics into increasingly smaller and smaller pieces over time.

As explained by the above website created by the US Environmental Protection Agency, plastic waste is proliferating in the world’s oceans.  Many fish, birds, and marine mammals ingest small pieces of plastic and die each year.  As plastic photo-degrades, the process can release chemical pollution into the water, some of which is getting into the world’s food chain.  It’s a serious problem!

Thin-plastic carryout bags are so numerous

Thin-plastic checkout bags are handed out by US retailers in the hundreds of millions – some say billions – every year. By banning checkout bags, Franklin is seeking to eliminate at least part of the plastics pollution problem.  Paper bags and reusable bags would seem to be sensible and fairly painless replacements.

Wholesale club chains such as Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s Wholesale (there’s a BJ’s in Franklin, MA) do not hand out any bags at all. 

So maybe banning single use checkout bags would be viewed as a no-brainer?

Pushback against bag bans

Maybe not!  Changes in law and government policy can have unanticipated negative consequences. So perhaps it is no surprise that plastic bag bans have been criticized and have encountered opposition. 

Some of the criticism about bag bans has come from the plastics industry itself, which is to be expected.  But some voices in academia and even environmentalism have also been raised against the bag bans.

In a 2017 doctoral dissertation entitled It’s Not Easy Being Green: Lessons from Disposable Carryout Bag Regulations, Rebecca L. Taylor makes a number of arguments against plastic bag bans.  Ms. Taylor claims to have proof that bag bans are counterproductive in that they hurt the environment more than checkout plastic bags have.  In the dissertation, the author asserts that consumers in California responded to various regulations banning or restricting the distribution of disposable checkout plastic by increasing their use (and disposal) of other types of plastic bags.  The dissertation also alleges that the creation and disposal of paper checkout bags ultimately have more harmful effects on the environment than plastic bags, and declared that the manufacture of reusable grocery bags produces serious negative environmental impacts.

Did Franklin make a mistake?

Some could argue that Franklin should not have gotten on the plastic bag ban bandwagon and let economic forces decide what checkout bags are available at Franklin retailers.  On the other hand, go shopping anywhere in town and you’ll collect a whole lot of plastic bags.  Kitchen closets and pantries can get full of them and the bags seem rarely to get recycled.  So the bag ban seems sensible and perhaps was long overdue.  People old enough to remember food shopping through the mid 1980s know that everyone did just fine without all those plastic bags!

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Support locally produced food

The Franklin Farmer’s Market features fruits and vegetables as well as breads and food items.

There are no commercially produced food items for re-sale.

Win/Win

The Franklin Farmers’ Market is a win/win for local producers and the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts.  The Market allows locally grown produce to be sold in a downtown setting.  It helps local farmers and brings more people to the Downtown area of Franklin.

Click the hyper-link to learn more about the Franklin MA Farmers’ Market.

To become a vendor

If you are interested in becoming a vendor at the Franklin Farmers’ Market, you can contact Tim Garboski of Grateful Farm in Franklin.

Here is a link to a helpful site listing all farmers’ markets in Massachusetts.

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Walmart has become America’s premier discounter.  Clustered near the Walmart in Belllingham is a Market Basket, part of a grocery store known for low prices. Franklin residents enjoy ready access to both these low-cost providers of consumer goods.

Walmart
250 Hartford Avenue
Bellingham, MA 02019
508-966-7633
http://www.walmart.com/

Mashalls is a strong discount chain operating out a headquarters in Massachusetts.  It is owned by the same company that owns the TJ Maxx chain.

Marshalls
Franklin Village Shopping Center
200 Franklin Village Drive
Franklin, MA 02038
508-520-0338
http://www.marshallsonline.com/

Ocean State is a great place to pick up a bargain. The portions of the inventory is heavily seasonal.  (In the fall, you’re sure to find inexpensive Halloween and Christmas decorations. As spring approaches, look for gardening supplies and patio furniture.)

Year round, the store has specialty foods, toiletries, linens and housewares, as well as arts and crafts supplies.

Ocean State Job Lot
114 Main St
Medway, MA 02057
508-533-5396
http://www.osjl.com/home/default.aspx

A superb resource for custom interior and exterior paint for Franklin residents, it’s very nice to have this hardware store in town.

Aubuchon Hardware
Horace Mann Plaza
265 E Central St
Franklin, MA 02038
(508) 528-8484

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It’s a nice alternative to the big-box stores such as Home Depot and Lowes for any gardening or landscaping needs.

More than meets the eye on the outside

If you drive by, you might not think much of the store. But Agway is treat on the inside! A self-styled “urban farm store” Agway Franklin is a super resource for Franklin homeowners and gardeners. Agway seems to be a holdover from the long-gone days when there were a lot of farms in town. Agway is tops for lawn and garden needs, quality seeds, animal feeds, hay, chickens, beekeeping supplies – pretty much anything agricultural.

There’s a lot of gardening and lawncare know-how at Agway in Franklin, MA.  They are willing to give help and give free advice and will steer you in the right direction!

Agway
157 Cottage St
Franklin, MA 02038
(508) 528-1333
https://www.franklinagway.com/

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The advantage of the “big box” hardware stores is selection. This store has a lot of what suburban homeowners need!

Home Depot
229 Hartford Ave
Bellingham, MA 02019
(508)966-9200
http://www.homedepot.com

Whole Foods is the other end of the food shopping universe from Market Basket: beautiful store, lots of high-end organic and natural food choices.  What’s interesting is that the two stores are practically across the street from each other.

It speaks well for the economy and demographics of the greater Franklin, MA area that there is a Whole Foods store here!

Whole Foods Market
255 Hartford Ave
Bellingham, MA 02019
508-966-3331‎
http://wholefoodsmarket.com