Styrofoam, which is a brand name for the polystyrene foam product produced by Dow Chemical Company, is composed of a kind of plastic that is made up of all synthetic fibers.
In nature, organic materials biodegrade because they start to decompose into their simplest forms when they are exposed to sunlight, water, or air for long periods of time. Some kinds of microbes are specialized by nature, and have the role of decomposing these materials.
When a product has no natural material in it, it cannot break down into simpler forms in nature. What that means is, products like Styrofoam or some kinds of plastic bottles will remain in the same form forever. When these products get thrown away, they clog landfills, infesting land, water, and shorelines with trash. Until someone comes along and picks it up, which is rare, the trash will remain there until it is eaten by an animal, or carried out to sea.
Styrofoam is horrible for the environment and our bodies. The chemicals found in Styrofoam are not found in our bodies, either. When we use Styrofoam food service products with hot or acidic foods (coffee, orange juice, tomato sauce, etc.), those foods will absorb some of the chemicals Styrene and Benzyne, which we then ingest into our bodies. These chemicals can cause all kinds of heath issues, like cancers and some reproductive and hormonal concerns.
Alternatives
Luckily, there are other options that are equivalent to Styrofoam in affordability and durability. Businesses can go green by replacing their Styrofoam products with paper or bioplastics. Paper is 100% biodegradable, and won't harm your body or the environment. Bioplastic is kind of an interesting new thing that is gaining popularity in the food service industry. Made of corn syrup and corn starch, this biodegradable material is a plastic look-alike that breaks down in nature in just ten days. It dissolves completely, leaving almost no trace. The only drawback to bioplastic is that it cannot be used with hot beverages, because it will begin to dissolve while it's in use.
What can I do?
On campus, biodegradable products are used at all dining locations. Paper plates and to-go boxes, bioplastic cups, unbleached napkins, and biodegradable cutlery are showing UMaine students that the University is going green. Beyond this campus, it's important to let businesses know that you care about how your food is served, stored, and packaged. It's not just an environmental issue -- consider the risks that Styrofoam causes to your health. Talk to the managers of restaurants still using Styrofoam; they may just not know that alternatives are out there.
Last semester, I won the Oak Award for Public Speaking for a speech I wrote about Styrofoam and its impact on the environment. It seems like an issue that lacks urgency, but when 20 million Styrofoam cups are thrown away each year, and every single one of them ends up in a landfill, the problem seems a whole lot bigger. Consider how much you're contributing to the problem. Then, become part of the solution.
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