For as long as I can remember, take home food has come in a styrofoam box, take out coffee has been served in a styrofoam cup, and packaging peanuts have been made from styrofoam. All this is about to change, and for good reason. There are no redeeming qualities to styrofoam. To be blunt, is is bad for the environment and human health.
Toxic chemicals leach out of these styrofoam products and into the food that they contain. These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
Polystyrene foam (styrofoam) is made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity.
The product does not biodegrade. A certain percentage of the product will be dumped in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely.
What's the alternative? Unbleached paper products. They biodegrade and their use avoids all of the above problems. Besides unbleached paper, which is probably the best alternative to styrofoam, there are a number of new products on the market that are waiting to replace styrofoam. Bioplastics, made from plant oils, is another option. The problem so far is resistance by restaurants and food producers who do not want to go to a more expensive product. It is important that we, as consumers, let our voices be heard. If we complain loud and hard about not wanting to be served coffee in a styrofoam cup, things will change. Some companies are environmentally friendly and will make these changes on their own. Others need a little push from consumers. So I will continue to push. A number of cities have already banned the use of styrofoam, including Oakland, California, Freeport, Maine, and Portland, Oregon. There are many other cities in California that are close to banning styrofoam. San Diego is NOT one of them, but if we spread the word we can be styrofoam free.
Toxic chemicals leach out of these styrofoam products and into the food that they contain. These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
Polystyrene foam (styrofoam) is made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity.
The product does not biodegrade. A certain percentage of the product will be dumped in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely.
What's the alternative? Unbleached paper products. They biodegrade and their use avoids all of the above problems. Besides unbleached paper, which is probably the best alternative to styrofoam, there are a number of new products on the market that are waiting to replace styrofoam. Bioplastics, made from plant oils, is another option. The problem so far is resistance by restaurants and food producers who do not want to go to a more expensive product. It is important that we, as consumers, let our voices be heard. If we complain loud and hard about not wanting to be served coffee in a styrofoam cup, things will change. Some companies are environmentally friendly and will make these changes on their own. Others need a little push from consumers. So I will continue to push. A number of cities have already banned the use of styrofoam, including Oakland, California, Freeport, Maine, and Portland, Oregon. There are many other cities in California that are close to banning styrofoam. San Diego is NOT one of them, but if we spread the word we can be styrofoam free.
No comments:
Post a Comment