“This stuff is an environmental and public health pollutant, and we have to reduce its use.”
San Francisco just took a major step to save the environment.
The city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance to ban the sale of polystyrene — more commonly known by its brand-name “styrofoam” — on Tuesday.
It’s the broadest ban on the product in the country, according to Mother Jones.
“The science is clear,” London Breed, Board of Supervisors president, said in a statement in April. “This stuff is an environmental and public health pollutant, and we have to reduce its use.”
Starting January 1, 2017, vendors will no longer be able to sell polystyrene products, from food packaging and coffee cups to packing peanuts and pool toys, according to Science Alert. And starting July 1, styrofoam fish and meat trays in supermarkets will also be banned.
I – Word Understanding
Unanimously – agreed by all members / people involved
Ordinance – a law / rule
Polystyrene – known as styrofoam – a petroleum based plastic
II – Have Your Say
1. Is polystyrene or styrofoam widely used in your country? Can you name some products using styrofoam or some of its common uses?
2. What will happen if your government will implement the same ban on the use of styrofoam? Can you think of some alternative materials that can replace it?
3.Why not use polystyrene? Here are some facts:
a. health hazard to factory workers
b.The process of making polystyrene pollutes the air and creates large amounts of liquid and solid waste.
c.Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain (especially when heated in a microwave).
d.These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource.
e.Discarded polystyrene does not biodegrade for hundreds of years
f.Polystyrene foam is often dumped into the environment as litter. This material is notorious for breaking up into pieces that choke animals and clog their digestive systems.
g.Polystyrene is flammable
552 San Francisco Just Issued The Country’s Broadest Ban On Styrofoam
