GUEST EDITORIAL
Deceptive restaurant sign in Pasadena (Photo – Morey Wolfson).
After 80 cities in California have already done so, the Pasadena City Administration recently banned Styrofoam™, (the technical name is polystyrene), from city facilities. This is good news, since Styrofoam™ is an affront to our intelligence and an environmental menace.*
Seeing the writing on the wall, a local propaganda campaign is now being waged by Dart Industries (the nation’s largest manufacturer of polystyrene food containers).
By Morey Wolfson
Dart, and their lobbyist friends at the California Restaurant Association, have convinced several unwitting local polystyrene-dispensing restaurants to post deceptive signs on their windows. The signs say that you can now recycle your take-out foam containers. This is nothing short of a self-serving corporate lie fed to a gullible population.
Facts
The fact is that less than 1% of polystyrene is recycled, because it is 99% air. In contrast to some plastics that have the potential for a recycled life, virtually every piece of polystyrene will either end up in near perpetuity in landfills, or will litter beaches, parks, sidewalks and streets, or reside in the bellies of wildlife who mistake it for food.
Landfill
The so-called “recyclable” trash in Pasadena is primarily sent to the Allan Company in Baldwin. When the sorters at the facility see polystyrene, they send it to the conveyor belt destined for the Scholl Canyon landfill (just west of Pasadena).
(Photo – Staff, Ⓒ coloradoboulevard.net).
What to do?
Pasadena residents must ensure that the Public Works Department and City Administration act responsibly and push back on Dart Industries and recalcitrant restaurants that don’t want to pay an extra penny for a bio-based alternative food container.
Morey Wolfson is Vice Chair of Pasadena Environmental Advisory Commission.
> Who to contact
Municipal Services Committee:
Margaret McAustin, District 2, Chair – Email: mfuller@cityofpasadena.net
Terry Tornek, Mayor – Email: ttornek@cityofpasadena.net
Andy Wilson, District 7 – Email: pthyret@cityofpasadena.net
Will there be a city-wide ban of restaurants using Styrofoam containers for take-out and ‘doggie bag’, as well? If we in Pasadena have banned the use of plastic grocery bags, we should take the same steps for banning the Styrofoam containers/cups/etc.