Styrofoam. Nobody likes it.
It’s awful for the environment, not great for people, and crummy at the one thing it’s supposed to do: contain food. Saucy food slides everywhere, the lids are forever popping open or breaking, and when exposed to heat, (say, from hot food or coffee), styrene can leech into the contents of the container (your food or coffee).
While it might seem obvious that any alternative would be better than Styrofoam, the decision to switch isn’t necessarily an easy one for small businesses. While the GDA advocates for post-consumer, recyclable, or compostable alternatives, standard sized containers are always more expensive than Styrofoam. It is cheap for a number of reasons, including that it is made from materials like petroleum, which is subsidized, thus masking the true cost of the product, and that it is very lightweight, which reduces shipping costs. Of course, its near-weightlessness helps contribute to its bad environmental reputation – the tiny pellets that comprise Styrofoam break apart over time. These pellets are easily picked up by the wind and scattered everywhere, eventually ending up in our oceans.
Restaurant owners provide a valuable, beloved service for what is often a meager profit margin. To survive, they must be frugal, cutting costs wherever possible and investing in the most important aspect of their business: food. That means that other items, such as to-go ware, are not given financial priority.
As customers, we expect our food to be delicious, fresh, and affordable. With citywide bans on Styrofoam popping up all over the United States, it is apparent that diners increasingly expect eco-friendly to-go containers from their favorite restaurants. However, it is not always clear to restaurant owners how important this issue is to their patrons – accepting food in Styrofoam containers is, in a sense, voicing acceptance of the puffed plastic. What can be done to communicate the environmentally-minded’s aversion to Styrofoam?
Don’t use it.
Refuse to Use Styrofoam. That can mean a few different things: only order what you’re sure you can finish at the table, bring your own to-go container (carrying re-usable bags at the grocery store was once considered strange -now it’s the standard), or avoid take-out from restaurants that use Styrofoam.
Styrofoam makes Lucy sad.
Take it personal. Take responsibility for the single-use items that enter the waste stream due to your purchases. Encourage the restaurants you love to spend the extra money on to-go ware so you can feel good about eating at their establishments. Tell them you would be glad to pay a to-go fee to help offset the added cost of environmentally friendly containers.
Green Dining Alliance members are all styrofoam-free, so if you’re not sure where to go, check our website for a complete listing. We have plenty to choose from.
