Get rid of Styrofoam

Details: Published on Tuesday, 07 July 2015 11:45; Written by editor

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PAOV – There's a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it.

Cette pétition prend de l'ampleur sur Change.org, souhaitez-vous la signer? Elle demande à la ville de Winnipeg d'imiter plusieurs grandes villes et de bannir les verres en styromousse (polystyrène), car les débris provenant de ce matériau prennent des siècles à se dégrader et contaminent toute la chaîne alimentaire avant de revenir dans notre assiette.

The City of Winnipeg: Ban the use and sale of single use Expandable Polystyrene Foam (Styrofoam) products

Kevin Gordon
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sign Kevin's petition

Polystyrene Foam, commonly referred to as Styrofoam, has many potential negative health and environmental issues. Many cities around North America have already banned this product from being used because of the environmental concerns associated with it.

Some of the cities that have banned single-use styrofoam include:

Washington, DC
Miamie Beach, FL
Boston, MA
Minneapolis, MN
New Yor City, NY
Portland, OR
Los Angeles, CA

A list of other cities can be found here.

What we're asking for

We are asking for the City of Winnipeg to ban single-use Polystyrene foam containers, such as coffee cups, plates, take away containers and packing peanuts from being used or sold within Winnipeg starting in 2017.

This ban would prevent retailers from selling single use disposable plates, cups and serving trays made of Polystyrene Foam.

This ban would not apply to large blocks of foam, such as those used in the packaging and shipping of electronics, or to food containers prepared and shipped for consumption in a foam package.

This ban does not include other uses of polystrene foam products, such as bicycle helmets, or polystrene plastic products such as CD cases, disposable razors, or other commercially produced plastic products.

Environmental Concerns

Polystyrene foam is a major component of plastic debris in the ocean, where it becomes hazardous to marine life and "could lead to the transfer of toxic chemicals to the food chain". Our Red River flows in to Lake Winnipeg which is abundent with fish. Animals do not recognize this artificial material and may even mistake it for food.[Citation: Wikipedia]

Polystyrene foam blows in the wind and floats on water, and is abundant in the outdoor environment. It can be lethal to any bird or sea creature that swallows significant quantities.

Discarded polystyrene does not biodegrade for hundreds or thousands of years, where paper products can decompose in days if they fall in to a river or lake and within our life time if buried in a landfill.

Absorbent properties make EPS even more dangerous. "Polystyrene foams essentially act like little pollutant sponges, picking up and concentrating some of the nastiest contaminants in the ocean," McCauley says. "Then something like a sea turtle comes along and eats this thinking it is a jellyfish." [Citation: BBC]

Recycling

There are no large scale commercially viable options for recycling foam products made from this plastic. The low weight-to-volume ratio of polystyrene makes large-scale pickup for recycling impractical

Health Concerns

Polystyrene is commonly used in containers for food and drinks. The styrene monomer (from which polystyrene is made) is a cancer suspect agent.[Citation: National Institute of Health]

Another Japanese study conducted on ... found [that] cooked polystyrene container-packed instant foods, may increase thyroid hormone levels [Citation: National Institutes of Health]

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Get rid of Styrofoam

The City of Winnipeg: Ban the use and sale of single use Expandable Polystyrene Foam (Styrofoam) products

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