We are asking the LMSD nutritional services to stop the use of disposable Styrofoam trays in the Lower Merion High School cafeteria, and replace them with environmentally sustainable trays: either compostable or reusable or both.

There are many important reasons for replacing Styrofoam.

The chemical styrene, a major component of polystyrene food containers, has been categorized as “reasonably anticipated to be a carcinogen" by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Styrene is toxic and polluting from the start and forever thereafter. Nobody should be eating or drinking from containers made of styrene, not us, not our parents, and not our neighbors! The market is full of safe and affordable alternatives. 

Styrofoam litter poses a serious threat to the health of our oceans, marine wildlife and now our seafood!  It is consistently reported as one of the top 10 items of debris recovered from beach clean-ups worldwide. (Ocean Conservancy, 2016). 

When it rains as little as 1 inch, street litter is entering our local waterways. Styrene foam is particularly brittle. As it breaks up into tiny microplastics, it enters our seafood chain, accumulating more toxins that adhere to it along the way. Recent studies show that 1 in 4 fish contain microplastics and that by 2050, there will be more plastics (by weight) than fish in the oceans (World Economic Forum).

Styrofoam is mostly air, so a little bit of material can take up a large amount of space (Rubio, 2018). Because storing it is so inefficient, recycling centers usually do not take Styrofoam because they cannot make any money off of it.

The majority of Styrofoam is made from oil, which is a fossil fuel that is widely recognized as being a major contributor to global warming (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). This means using it is not sustainable and contributes to climate change in a major way. Pennsylvania recently saw severe flooding and heatwaves, which were caused by climate change (StateImpactPA, 2021).
 

Styrofoam is bad for us and the world around us, and we need to replace it.

Thank you for taking local action on this important environmental and health issue!

 

Sources: 

 

http://www.cafeteriaculture.org/ 

Rubio, Michelle Rose. “Dealing with polystyrene wastes.” EcoMENA, 6 sep, 2018,

         https://www.ecomena.org/polystyrene-wastes/

Kihal, Vijayalaxmi. “How styrofoam is bad for the environment.”greenliving.lovetoknow.com,

         2020,   Https://green living.loveto know.com/ HowStyrofamisBadfortheEnvironmet.

 

 “Frequently asked questions, getting styrofoam out of schools.” cafetriaculture.org, 2020,

http://www.cafeteriaculture.org/faqs---getting-styrofoam-out-of-schools.html

Syren, Fredrika. “Why styrofoam is so bad for the environment,” zero waste family, 7 feb, 2018, 

https://zerowastefamily.com/styrofoam-bad-environment

Jang M, Shim WJ, Han GM, Rani M, Song YK, Hong SH. Styrofoam Debris as a Source of Hazardous Additives for Marine Organisms. Environ Sci Technol. 2016 May 17;50(10):4951-60. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05485. Epub 2016 May 6. PMID: 27100560

Graca B, Bełdowska M, Wrzesień P, Zgrundo A. Styrofoam debris as a potential carrier of mercury within ecosystems. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2014 Feb;21(3):2263-2271. doi: 10.1007/s11356-013-2153-4. Epub 2013 Sep 21. PMID: 24057963 

Mette Skovgaard Christensen, Jesper Medom Vestergaard, Francesco d’Amore, Jette Sønderskov Gørløv, Gunnar Toft, Cecilia Høst Ramlau-Hansen, Zara Ann Stokholm, Inge Brosbøl Iversen, Mette Schou Nissen, Henrik Albert Kolstad. Styrene Exposure and Risk of Lymphohematopoietic Malignancies in 73,036 Reinforced Plastics Workers. Epidemiology, 

 

2018; 29 (3): 342 DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000819

 

James Huff, Peter F. Infante. Styrene exposure and risk of cancer. Mutagenesis. 2011 Sep; 26(5): 583–584. Published online 2011 Jul 1. doi: 10.1093/mutage/ger033.  PMCID: PMC3165940