Currently, Tropical Smoothie uses Styrofoam cups for their smoothies. This does keep the drinks nice and cold; however, it also presents a problem. When a customer is given a cup, they can leave it outside, throw it into a trash can, or recycle it.

If a customer lets it sit in the environment, there are consequences to the environment. A cleanup crew may be able to pick it up. Unfortunately, Styrofoam easily and quickly breaks into small pieces, making these small pieces hard to pick up. Small animals, like squirrels or birds, may think these pieces are food and choke. When Styrofoam is exposed to sunlight, it emits harmful air pollutants that can decrease the ozone layer (2).

Landfill space is filling up quickly. The US is supposed to lose 15% of its landfill capacity in the next 5 years if America continues to throw trash away at the current rate (3). In 2018, there were 26,970,000 tons of plastic sent to landfills, and 35,680,000 tons of plastic produced in the US (1). That means about 76% of plastic produced goes to the landfill. Part of this plastic waste includes Styrofoam plastics. In particular, Styrofoam takes up 30% of landfill space, with 1,369 tons of Styrofoam being buried daily (2). Styrofoam breaks down so slowly in a landfill, that it takes at least 500 years to decompose (4). 

Recycling is so wonderful. If you have recycled, thank you thank you thank you! Even when Styrofoam is recycled, however, it is one of the hardest materials to recycle, as it is lightweight, bulky, and mostly air. Specialized equipment is required to recycle it, and as a result, very few recycling centers attempt it (5). Some estimates claim it takes $3,000 to recycle one ton of Styrofoam (5). On the other hand, it only takes $100 to recycle a ton of paper (5).

None of these three choices for the consumer seem like great options. However, there is a solution. We can simply ask Tropical Smoothie to use more sustainable materials. There are much better alternatives for restaurants to use. Compostable materials completely degrade into the Earth and do not leave any toxic residue. That means that they will completely turn to dirt very quickly, as microorganisms can easily break them down. This is a significant upgrade from 1,369 tons in the landfill every day. Instead of Styrofoam cups, what if compostable paper was used? Or reusable glass cups for dining in the store? These small changes could make a huge difference for us and our environment for generations to come. Our world is precious, and we only have one Earth. It is our responsibility to preserve it for our children. Please help protect our world in small ways by voting for Tropical Smoothie to use recyclable or reusable cups. Thank you!

Fact-check me, here are my sources:

1-https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data

2-https://www.ecofriendlyhabits.com/styrofoam-facts/

3-https://sweepstandard.org/time-is-running-out-the-u-s-landfill-capacity-crisis/

4-https://greendiningalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/real-cost-of-styrofoam_written-report.pdf

5-https://greencitizen.com/blog/is-styrofoam-recyclable/