A. REASONS WHY POLYSTYRENE FOAM IS BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH.
1. Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain. These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
2. These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity.
3. The product does not biodegrade. It crumbles into fragments that have no expiration date.
3. A certain percentage of product will be dumped in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely as litter and breaking up into pieces that choke and clog animal digestive systems in waterways.
4. The product takes up more space in landfills than does paper and eventually will re-enter the environment when landfills are breached by water or mechanical forces.
5. Foam recycling is a public relations stunt, promoted by the chemical industries that manufacture it. This is done in highly centralized, distant facilities using complex chemical processes and expends far more energy than is ever saved by recycling the material.
B. UNBLEACHED PAPER BIODEGRADES AND ITS USE AVOIDS ALL OF THE ABOVE PROBLEMS.
There is a growing number of alternate containers and products available that are made with unbleached paper, a far more environmentally benign material that is made with recycled sustainable materials.
1. Bleaching paper creates chemical pollutants and uses more energy. UNbleached paper is as close to environmentally benign as can be achieved in a non-reusable product. Yes it's still not perfect. If you want perfection make a cup out of your hands.
2. Recycled paper is an easily renewable resource.
3. Paper dissolves and biodegrades in the environment.
4. Paper products can be recycled at most people's doorstep where community recycling is in place.
