Posted on May 16, 2019 by David Van Slyke
On April 30, 2019, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed into law An Act to Prohibit the Use of Certain Disposable Food Service Containers, making Maine the first state in the nation to ban polystyrene foam (more commonly called Styrofoam) use in disposable food service containers – coffee cups, takeout containers, packaged meat trays, egg cartons and the like. The prohibition, which takes effect on January 1, 2021, bans restaurants, convenience stores, farmer’s markets, nursing homes, food pantries and other businesses from using the containers.
While Styrofoam containers have many advantages over alternatives – they are comparatively easy to manufacture, light (cost-effective to ship), relatively durable, have good insulating qualities and (by some measures) are lower in production impacts – they are among the most common sources of litter in the United States, found “[f]rom the mountains to the prairies….”
Further, polystyrene foam is petroleum-based, floats, is prevalent in the marine environment, and photodegrades and physically breaks down into smaller particles that are ingested (to ill effect) by marine life. Further, recent research suggests that chemicals associated with polystyrene foam debris transfer to marine life that attaches itself to the debris.
I, for one, applaud the Maine Legislature and Governor Mills, as well as the other states (Maryland, California and Hawaii) that have considered such a ban and the numerous municipalities across “this land that I love” that have already banned Styrofoam use.
However, there is still work to be done. As a member of Red Sox Nation (and, yes, a devoted drinker of Dunkin Donuts® coffee), the next time I hear an awe-inspiring rendition of “God Bless America” at Fenway Park, I may have a tough time blocking the thought that it is actually trillions of bits of polystyrene that are making “…the oceans white with foam.”
Tags: Styrofoam