Styrofoam Ban in Seattle
By: Carolina Mironyuk
And Rene Trudeau
Why We Chose this Event
Rene
I chose this event because it seemed interesting when I saw about it on the news.
Carolina
I thought that this event would cause a lot of controversy and it was a pretty interesting topic. That’s why I chose it.
What?
Seattle is banning Styrofoam in 2009
If this ban is passed, all restaurants and grocery stores would have to find a non-foam container alternative
Why?
To reduce waste in Seattle
Styrofoam is not biodegradable.
This mean that it will never break down. It will always be garbage. For millions and millions of years.
More and more Styrofoam is ending up in our landfills, and it will always stay garbage.
When
The bag fee and a ban on foam containers for food from takeout restaurants will take effect in January 2009
A ban on foam trays used for raw meat and seafood at grocery stores is set to take effect in July 2010
Starting in July 2010, the ban will expand to all plastic food containers and plastic utensils
- food businesses will have to start using biodegradable or recyclable containers and utensils
Alternatives
There are many alternatives to Styrofoam.
Paper
Plastic
Still, paper and plastic have their pros and cons. So, nothing can really replace Styrofoam.
Restaurants/stores will have to use pricey bio-degradable containers.
Plastic
Plastic is one of the alternatives to Styrofoam.
However, there will also be a ban on plastic in 2010.
This ban on plastic will leave people only using biodegradable, such as paper.
- A 20-cent fee would be imposed on each plastic or paper bag used in the checkout line at all grocery, convenience and drugstores
Videos
http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=261878
http://www.nwcn.com/video/index.html?nvid=261598
Works Citied
Hill, Joshua S. Seattle’s Ban on Plastic and Styrofoam. 9 July 2008. Ecolocalizer. 20 Nov. 2008<...