What is Styrofoam, anyway?

Styrofoam is actually the trade name of a polystyrene, which is a petroleum-based plastic. Polystyrene is a light-weight material, about 95% air, with very good insulation properties and is used in all types of products from cups that keep your beverages hot or cold to packaging material that keep your computers safe during shipping.

Over 20 US cities have banned polystyrene food packaging.

Polystyrene Food Containers and Related Applications

• coffee cups
• soup bowls and salad boxes
• foam egg cartons; produce & meat trays
• disposable utensils

Non-Food Applications of Polystyrene

• packing "peanuts"
• foam inserts that cushion new appliances and electronics
• television and computer cabinets
• compact disc "jewel boxes" and audiocassette cases

Reasons Why Polystyrene Foam is Bad for You

• Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain (especially when heated in a microwave). These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.
• The migration of styrene from a polystyrene cup into the beverage it contains has been observed to be as high as 0.025% for a single use.  That may seem like a rather low number, until you work it this way:  If you drink beverages from polystyrene cups four times a day for three years, you may have consumed about one foam cup's worth of styrene along with your beverages. Mmm.... chem-i-callyyyy.

Reasons Why Polystyrene Foam is Bad for the Environment

• These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, high-polluting and disappearing commodity.
• The product does not biodegrade. It crumbles into fragments that have no expiration date.
• 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.
• The product takes up more space in landfills than paper and eventually will re-enter the environment when landfills are breached by water or mechanical forces.
• Polystyrene is not easily recycled because of its light weight (especially if foamed) and its low scrap value.
• Since the foamed kinds not only float on water, but also blow in the wind, it is often abundant in the outdoor environment, particularly along shores and waterways.
• When burned without enough oxygen or at lower temperatures (as in a campfire or a household fireplace), polystyrene can produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon black, and carbon monoxide, as well as styrene monomers

What Does the Green Team Propose to Do About It?

On average, the cafeteria in the U.S. Embassy uses over 100 pieces DAILY of polystyrene containers for take-away products. Imagine how quickly a land fill could pile up simply from our use alone.

Bring your own! the cafeteria at your workplace will use any plates, bowls, or containers which you bring to them for your food.