Sea Life Suffers ! Styrofoam

[kalakoa]

How will banning food containers stop this ?

Suppose I am a conscientious consumer of polystyrene packaging, taking care to clean, sort, and neatly stack it with all my other recycling...

Where do I take it for proper disposal?

[Obie]

Unfortunately Hawaii does not have any place to recycle plastic #6.Of course Hawaii doesn't really recycle anything.It's all loaded up and shipped out.

Good news is there are places that do recycle and they even have paved roads.

http://www.foamfacts.com/recycling/?gcli...fgodF4oH4w

[kalakoa]

there are places that do recycle

I guess I can always ship my styrofoam there...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Of course Hawaii doesn't really recycle anything.It's all loaded up and ship

If you don't ship it in - - it doesn't need to be shipped out.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard

[kalakoa]

If you don't ship it in - - it doesn't need to be shipped out.

If you manufacture and recycle locally, it doesn't need to be shipped in or out.

Somehow the rule changes are always about "banning" something, which invariably creates a new/different problem. It would be nice to see actual solutions for a change.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

always about "banning" something,... It would be nice to see actual solutions for a change.

In the case of Styrofoam or EPF, banning is probably the preferred solution:

However, despite EPF's popularity and unique features, it has recently come under attack because of the gaseous methane derivatives—chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—used to foam it. CFCs are inert, and harmless to humans and the environment upon their release. However, long after their first use, scientists realized that CFCs contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer as they decompose.
...
The Manufacturing Process
First, styrene is made by combining ethylene and benzene...

And then we put our extremely hot food into it, always an excellent way to release the compounds found in plastic.

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard

[BillyB]

"Somehow the rule changes are always about "banning" something, which invariably creates a new/different problem."

Exactly. Why does government immediately reach for the "stick" instead of trying the "Carrot" first. Isn't the whole idea of a Democracy about agreeing on something and working together for it? Make your case for any particular objective and get the people behind you, unintended consequences will be exposed and the results of free people working for the common good will result in much better outcomes.
It seems everywhere we have lost faith in the idea of democracy. Perhaps reading Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack would be a better choice for their inspiration than Mein Kampf.

[kalakoa]

In the case of Styrofoam or EPF, banning is probably the preferred solution:

No argument here -- but neither will a ban be completely successful -- some styrofoam will still be imported due to "interstate commerce".

We need sensible regulation that addresses both sides of the problem. Excellent example: the rule change that banned cesspools really should have included type-approval for a few models of composting toilet. In this case, a styrofoam ban needs to include collection for recyling -- even if it won't really be recycled, at least it's diverted from the landfill.

a large package from E-bay loaded with styrofoam peanuts

These are 100% reusable -- save them for next time you ship something off-island -- maybe the recipient lives in one of those places with paved roads and styrofoam recycling.

[Wishes]

Some of the peanuts aren't Styrofoam at all. Next time you get some put one in water, it may dissolve. I've done it a few times just because I got a kick out of melting them. I'm not sure they are catching on or not but it sure would be nice to see more packaging made of something like that(as long as whatever it is, is nontoxic).

At least Hawaii looks into doing something good for the environment. In Wisconsin the banning of plastic bags is banned. Seriously made a law to prevent a law being made. UGH!

"One day there, madam, is worth one year of common existence," David Douglas

[terracore]

I get those dissolving "peanuts" all the time. It's a GMO corn starch based product. That must be quite the conundrum for environazis: a GMO-corn based petro alternative that wouldn't be an affordable alternative without genetic modification. Let the thread hijacking begin!

Thread hijacking hijinks aside, the biggest problem with the dissolving peanuts is that shipping centers dump all their peanuts for re-use into the same bins regardless of their origin. What comes in must go out- but mixed together. Once you are keen on what they look like the dissolving ones are easy to spot (and slightly more entertaining to watch dissolve than paint drying), but in my experience they are usually mixed in with the styrofoam packing peanuts that have formed the deadly fish-killing island vortex in the Pacific.