Thursday, April 12, 2007

No More Take-Out with Styrofoam Containers




Tonight Calvin and I were having our 5:00 what-to-have-for-dinner phone call and we decided on take-out (since he was doing an errand and would be next to Rubio's). I proposed that we refuse styrofoam for the rest of the 3 months, and he agreed.

Calvin took it as a fun challange! :) Above is the dinner he brought home. As you can see, he used the grocery bag he keeps in his car. Everything he ordered was wrapped in paper or foil. The salsa was recyclable plastic (but I like our salsa better, so I think next time I'd skip that).

This is what I found on some silly science fair website, but I thought it was a pretty good argument for why we should avoid styrfoam...

"Styrofoam is bad for the environment because it does not dissolve. It may stay in the land fill for over 400 years or more. Sometimes the Styrofoam can kill fish and animals in the ocean. The Styrofoam breaks down into little pieces and the wind carries it away to the sea. It floats on the surface of the water and the fish think that it is food so they eat it, this may cause sickness. The fish cannot digest the Styrofoam so they die. Styrofoam can also cause sickness for us. When you drink out of a Styrofoam cup, the Polystyrene (the molecule of Styrofoam) can remove from the cup and dissolve into the liquid that you drink."

4 comments:

Sarah Michele said...

That is something I never thought of doing! Why not right? Especially just bringing the Safeway bag in... I could have done that at Quizznos last night. Good thinking!

Sarah Michele said...

You are so ahead of the game Jennifer! I just read that effective June 1st San Fransisco is prohibiting the use of Styrofoam to-go containers! They either have to use compostable or recyclable containers from now on. It seems like our world is changing a little bit. Woo hoo!

Emily said...

I think SF recently banned plastic bag use in their city too.

Sarah Michele said...

Yep they sure did, from all major grocery store chains. They have 6 months, I believe to phase plastic bags out. I wonder how long before more cities follow their lead...

Welcome Visitors!

If you're reading for the first time, it may feel a bit like you've just walked into a conversation that has been going on for awhile.

So to catch you up...

Jennifer started this blog because she was going through the process of becoming more conscious of her lifestyle choices and had decided to "go green". As she talked to her friends she quickly realized that she was not the only one interested in making changes. The blog was born. We used this as a place to discuss things we've tried and to support each other in the journey.