Activists ask city to snuff out Styrofoam

June Casagrande

A Styrofoam coffee cup used today could plague future generations for

500 years, which is why local environmentalists have set their sights

on reducing it.

The city’s Coastal/Bay Water Quality Citizens Advisory Committee

has sent an ordinance to the City Council that would ban the use of

Styrofoam by city government, by vendors at city-sponsored events, by

charter vessels and by all events that receive a special event permit

in the city. The measure, modeled after a resolution adopted by San

Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach, is

expected to come before the council sometime next month, Assistant

City Manager Dave Kiff said.

“Styrofoam makes up a significant portion of trash that does not

biodegrade and ends up being both a visual and environmental blight

in the upper bay and along the beaches,” Kiff said.

Styrofoam is a trade name for poly styrene, the lightweight,

usually white substance used to make cups, to-go containers, ice

chests and other disposable containers, especially ones that hold hot

or cold substances. Some studies have shown that the substance takes

about 500 years to break down in the environment. In the meantime,

Earth Resource Foundation spokeswoman Stephanie Barger said, small

and large pieces of Styrofoam are building up in places like the

Santa Ana River jetty.

“You can sit working in a 5-foot by 5-foot space all day at the

Santa Ana River and not make a dent in picking up all the Styrofoam

there,” Barger said.

It plagues not just the natural beauty of local waterways, but it

also poses a significant threat to wildlife and possibly even humans,

she said. Animals such as fish, birds and turtles eat pieces of the

foam. Sometimes they end up malnourished because, while they’re

getting no nutrients from the foam, they feel full so they don’t eat

nourishing food, Barger said. When fish eat tiny pieces of the foam

it poses a danger to people who eat the fish and accumulate the

synthetic substance in their bodies.

The goal of the proposed ordinance is to reduce local government’s

contribution to this pollution problem by using ceramic mugs or

recyclable products instead of Styrofoam products.

“Hopefully, then you’ve got government setting an example for

businesses and individuals,” Barger said.

Councilman Steve Rosansky, who sits on the committee, said he

supports the measure.

“It sets the bar a little higher, and that’s a good thing,”

Rosansky said.