The Gazette

 

Lots of cities have enacted, or are considering, a Styrofoam ban. I’m not advocating one position or another; but, just what is the hype about this product?

 

The first thing I need to point out: Styrofoam is a trade name for polystyrene. It is cheap, it is easy, it is lightweight. These are good things, necessary things, for most small business and restaurants. So, as usual, the bad:

 

1) The production of styrene products produces by-products that are quite bad for the environment (the same is true of many, maybe most, plastics).

 

2) Styrenes are downright bad for people. The styrene from your coffee cup or take-out container leeches into your food, particularly if the food is warm. If you re-heat the product in the microwave be especially wary. The same is true of other plastics in many cases - but the meltable nature of Styrofoam seems to make it particularly problematic.

 

3) The litter! No other plastics seem to find their way into the environment post-production, as litter, in nearly the same way as Styrofoam. It breaks down into those irritating little beads, and those persist for a really long time and find their way into positively everything.

 

4) It is difficult to recycle. Most places wont take it the way they'll take plastic bottles. Plastic bottles and containers may be just as bad from a production perspective, but at least plastic bottles have the potential to be re-used (although I read recently that up to 85% are not recycled, so I’ll rant on that one soon!). You can find places to take the packing peanuts and re-use them, if you to do the legwork yourself. But, a broken Styrofoam cooler simply gets trashed - almost no one will turn that into a new product, because of the toxic nature of styrene.

 

To be fair, you will read Styrofoam advocacy pieces that will, quite rightly, point out that on a pound-for-pound basis, Styrofoam production is not nearly as bad as other plastics. This is because it is so light, so it takes a lot of Styrofoam to have the same negative environmental impact as say, a PVC product (Poly Vinyl Chloride, like irrigation pipe). Visualize a pound of Styrofoam (enormous) and a pound of PVC (pretty small) and you'll get the gist of this. A little Styrofoam can go a really long way and the pollution that each individual piece of Styrofoam makes is quite small, as it is actually mostly air. So, to some, this makes it an ok choice for something like your "to-go" container at a restaurant.

 

Keep in mind that there are also good uses of styrene products. The "shock absorption system" in my children's car seats is none other than "Styrofoam". It is also inside bike helmets. It makes really good insulation for buildings and it is found in many homes. In fact, this is one of the re-use options for the stuff.

 

Given the pros and the cons, I am not suggesting any particular path for our fair city. However, if you have a choice, you just might think about choosing something other than Styrofoam cups for your next gathering.

 

Lara Ferry-Graham is Research Faculty at California State University’s Moss Landing Marine Labs, a parent of two Styrofoam-protected bike-helmet wearers, and Marina resident. . She writes mostly opinion. You can read more of her opinions, and provide your opinions, at her Science Blog: swimswithfishes.blogspot.com.