Lexington Town Meeting Members will vote on a citizens’ petition to adopt a “Skip the Stuff” bylaw that would require local restaurants to ask customers before adding single-use plastic utensils or condiment packets to takeout orders. The vote will take place during the annual Town Meeting beginning March 30.
“The point of the bylaw is for the restaurants to have to ask as opposed to automatically just putting this stuff in there when people don’t need it,” said Laura Swain, primary petitioner of the bylaw and a member of the Lexington Waste Reduction Task Force.
The “Skip the Stuff” initiative is part of a national campaign by the same name. Cities including Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C., have adopted it, with California, Washington and New York establishing similar legislation at the state level.
In Massachusetts, a “Skip the Stuff” bill sponsored by state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo was referred to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources last February. Newton, Brookline, Wellesley and Swampscott have already passed similar laws.
The petition builds on the town’s Zero Waste Plan, which was adopted in 2023. Lexington began phasing out the use and distribution of single-use water bottles in 2024 and has since launched a curbside composting program and a reusable food container initiative for local restaurants.
When petitioners visited more than 70 percent of restaurants, they discovered that some Lexington eateries were already in compliance with the spirit of “Skip the Stuff,” with restaurants such as Avenue Deli, Royal Indian Bistro and Clay Oven publicly supporting the bylaw.
Other restaurant owners said the change could hinder customer service and prevent customers from getting the utensils they need.
According to the official motion, the town’s Board of Health would enforce the proposed bylaw. A restaurant’s second violation would result in a $25 fine; a third, $50.
“We are passionate about reducing waste, but we also don’t want to be this burdensome government bylaw,” said Alex Tsouvalas, a member of the Lexington Waste Reduction Task Force. “We want to support these small businesses. We wanted to engage them and have them be part of the dialogue.”
On the surface, the proposed policy may seem trivial, supporters say, but they believe “skipping the stuff” is an important step in Lexington’s commitment to reducing waste.
“Our Skip the Stuff” bylaw initiative, I think, folds really well into this landscape with the town,” said Janet Kern, a petitioner of the bylaw and vice president of the nonprofit LexZeroWaste. “More people are aware of this unnecessary waste cluttering their drawers at home, just being thrown right into the trash. So, I think people are ready for this.”
If passed, the bylaw would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.
These journalism student articles are great. Kudos to the authors, seems like a cool program.
I am a town meeting member from precinct 2. I will be voting “yes“ on skip the stuff.
I wish that the observer had used a photo of one of the independent, locally owned restaurants that are supporting this article, instead of Tatte, a huge chain owned by a venture capitalist.
Seems like a low friction way to reduce waste. With a little practice it should be easy for restaurants to comply, saving money for them while reducing waste. Perhaps this could be expanded to asking about plastic straws before delivering water and beverages to the table with an already opened straw in the glass.