I am so glad that I live in a city that cares so much about the environment. I feel that Portland officials are constantly striving to improve the world by taking on green initiatives. In the next few days the city council will be voting on whether or not to put a ban on food containers made from polystyrene foam (aka Styrofoam). I soooo hope this goes through as this material is incredibly detrimental to our environment.
I’m also really impressed with how the campaign for the ban started – when schools stopped using it in their cafeterias. It was then that Ed Suslovic jumped on the bandwagon and starting campaigning for more of the same thing – a true ban on the use of the material.
It’s true that it’s going to affect some small businesses (at least that’s what the argument against the ban is) but truthfully I care less about that than I do about the Portland environment. I guess I am somewhat more sympathetic though to the hospitals. According to City Hall liaison for the Portland Community Chamber Chris O’Neil, on a study conducted by Maine Medical Center on its Styrofoam usage in cafeterias, there would be an addition $400,000-$500,000 per annum to dispose of what they currently use for polystyrene. He added, “it’s a lot of money that will get passed along to – well – a lot of us – health insurance carriers and patients.”
Still, even with all that, I sure hope the vote goes in favor of the ban. There is no price tag for the Portland environment.