Greenpoint has been disappointed with our city council lately, but we can pat them on the back for this one. Last week they passed a ban on styrofoam, which is a major environmental win for NYC and Greenpoint.
Whenever I get a takeout styrofoam container it just feels dirty and wrong. And when we have our holiday markets, it is nearly impossible to find non-styrofoam hot drink cups at local markets. Thankfully that is all going to change.
Now shops and restaurants will no longer have a choice. There are complaints about the higher cost for non-styrofoam containers, but the toll styrofoam take on the environment far outweighs this.
According to Tree Hugger (yes I follow that blog): “New Yorkers throw away 23,000 tons of polystyrene per year.”
And who processes a proportionally high amount of the city’s trash? GREENPOINT! We don’t need any more toxic stuff being hauled here.
Styrofoam is reprehensible. The Story of Stuff explains that, “it is dirty to produce, exposing workers and communities near production sites to chemical hazards; it is a possible human carcinogen; it lives on indefinitely in landfills — or worst yet, as roadside litter or in our waterways; and it can not be easily or cheaply recycled.”
Good riddance.
Styrofoam was invented for various reasons but it had two major benefits:
A.) it kept your coffee insulated (so you didn’t get third degree burns) and B.) …it kept your coffee INSULATED!
That aside, it costs just as much (and is not any greener) to produce paper cups. Not only that, but “double-cupping” will produce even more waste; and don’t even try to pull that “I use cardboard sleeves”, that sh*t never worked, ever.
Thanks, but I’m overturning the ban, nothing like buying your own Styrofoam cups to guarantee a burn-free day.
So you are all for styrofoam?
Why wouldn’t you use a reusable mug? Also, the bottom line with Strofoam, beyond production, is that it just doesn’t decompose. It’s a really, really shitty product.
what is the Greenpoint Tavern on Bedford gonna do without Styrofoam cups? The main draw of that place is the biggie size Styrofoam budweisers… And how about the Turkey’s Nest? No more to-go margaritas?
what we must give up to save the planet…