In a revolutionary move begun by an octogenarian and no doubt embraced by owners of convenience stores in Acton, Bedford and Lexington, the historic town of Concord has made history again by becoming the first in the nation to ban the sale of plastic water bottles.

The ban is the result of the efforts of Jean Hill, an 85-year-old Concord grandmother who took up the campaign to ban plastic water bottles after hearing of "floating islands of plastic as big as the United States" in the Pacific Ocean.

Ms. Hill's heart, no doubt, is as large as one of those floating islands. But while this country is proof that something small can start in Concord and end up changing the course of history, it's doubtful that banning water bottles in Concord will eventually lead to a new American Revolution.

Truth be told, Hill sounds more like the British, telling us what to drink -- and what to drink it out of. She was finally able to vanquish the enemy -- the dreaded plastic bottle -- at Town Meeting after twice seeing it go down to defeat.

Ah, but not everyone in Concord has lost the revolutionary spirit. Just a couple days into the ban (which started with the new year), a group formed to repeal the law. Concord Residents for Consumer Choice has garnered enough signatures (a whopping 10 were needed; they didn't stop until they got 16) to put the issue back on the Town Meeting warrant, where members of the group feel confident the water-bottle ban will be overturned.


"People should have the freedom to buy a legal product in the town they live in," group member Robin Garrison, has been quoted as saying.

Patrick Henry couldn't have said it better.

(There is no truth to the rumor, which I just made up, that the group plans to stage a media event in which they pour water from plastic bottles into Walden Pond.)

It's safe to say, folks, that this new-fangled material called plastic is here to stay. And as long as folks are willing to buy their water encased in the stuff, those "floating islands" will, alas, remain afloat. (Hey, they're way out there in the Pacific; let California worry about them.)

Perhaps Ms. Hill's efforts -- which, somehow, led to an entire town (or at least those who stuck around long enough to vote on it at Town Meeting) agreeing to ban something that is as ubiquitous as a cellphone in someone's hands -- would have been better served in stepping up efforts to get people to recycle the plastic water bottles they buy.

And why did Hill choose plastic bottles containing water and not soda or sugar-filled juice drinks? She could have tackled obesity at the same time she was tackling the "floating islands."

Perhaps, just perhaps, it's because her grandchildren like to swig Sunkist or Powerade by the plastic gallon.

Folks, this is still America, and it's still legal (everywhere but Concord) to purchase and drink water from a plastic bottle. The people who fought and died in Concord more than 230 years ago to forge this country might be a tad surprised to find that someone who calls Concord home has decided we should no longer have that right.

Then again, this is a town that doesn't like public restrooms in its center shopping district. And now -- at least until the ban is repealed -- you'll have to find another way to hold your water.
