Is Styrofoam bad for the environment?

Question

Someone told me it takes 5,000 years for a piece of styrofoam to discengrate in a landfill. Is this true? I've been drinking coffee out of styrofoam cups every moring and now I am rethinking this.
What other items are harmful for the enviroment?

Answer 1

Damn near everything is bad for the environment. I hear arisol (as in arisol cans) are bad for the environment. The chemicals released harm the ozone layer.


Decomposition rate;
a. Wool Sock – 1 year

b. Leather shoe – 45 years

c. Tin Can - 90 years

d. Disposable Diaper – 550 years

e. Aluminum can – 200-500 years

f. Plastic jug – 1 million years

g. Styrofoam container – more that 1 million years!


Here's a link that covers everything;
http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/english/issues/07/any_questions_e.cfm

Answer 2

Don’t believe everything you read here.

To see how much plastic is in a Styrofoam cup, put it in a container and pour a tiny bit of acetone (many nail polish removers are mostly acetone) on it. Shake it around. The plastic will "melt," and come to rest at the bottom of the container. You will be amazed at how little there is.

Obviously, any time you have the option, using a non-disposable product is more environmentally sane than using a disposable one. However, in all the shouting about Styrofoam coffee cups, a number of things are seldom considered.

It takes petrochemicals to manufacture Styrofoam cups. The manufacturing process probably causes some air pollution.

It takes fuel to glaze and fire a ceramic cup. The manufacturing process probably causes some air pollution. It also takes hot water, often heated with fossil fuels, to wash the cup each time it's used. Synthetic chemical products (dishwasher detergent) are also used. Unless you know of anyone who can make clay, the clay used in the manufacture is a non-renewable resource.

As to how long it takes Styrofoam to "break down," you've been given answers here from less than 50 years to over a million. We don't have to think too hard to realize that, if it's over 52 years, we simply don’t know! According to About.com, Styrofoam was put on the market in 1954. (1)

It’s difficult to research the question using the words “break down,” because they are not the correct words to describe the process. What can be found using those words are popular opinions and environmentalist alarmism and very few verifiable facts.

As to another poster’s comment that the EPA has found styrene in all fat cells tested, I’d need to see the source cited (a cite that led to the original report) in order to evaluate it. So would you.

I’m not suggesting that we blithely go about tossing Styrofoam cups from our car windows! What I am suggesting is that we (especially North Americans) find out for real what we can do to reduce our individual impact on the environment, then do what we’re willing to do. We should always try to become willing to do more.

I worked in a small town in an office. I was required at work to place all newspaper and office paper, (after using an electric shredder to shred sensitive documents) in a recycling bin and carry it out separately to a certain place. With one phone call to the town, I learned where it went. Care to guess? Yup, to the landfill.

So use public transportation, reduce consumption, be careful about getting household chemicals to a proper disposal facility and do whatever else you can do to limit your environmental impact. But get real about it. Don’t take the word of every stranger you meet about how to do that, spend two or three hours a year doing your research, and make a BIG difference. Think about it a little, rather than allowing others to do your thinking for you.

Answer 3

Styrofoam contains chemicals that over time and continuous exposure (even in small amounts) can build up in the body and cause many health issues. One U.S. EPA study of human fat biopsies found styrene residues in every single sample. Styrene is easily transferred from a container to your food or beverage. And the hotter or fattier the food, the more styrene it absorbs. This includes not only your coffee, but meat on foam trays at grocery stores. It can disrupt hormone functions and cause low platelet counts, chromosome and lymphatic abnormalities, and create neurotoxic effects, which can lead to fatigue, insomnia and other diseases associated with the nervous system. It is even more dangerous for pregnant women because of the effects on the unborn.

The remaining residue does not disintegrate easily, although it breaks up easily into smaller pieces. This isn't a good thing - do you want your environment to be filled with ugly white plastic?

Even if styrofoam was completely, chemically inert, there's simply no reason to use a disposable object that clogs our landfills (which are part of our environment) when a reusable object (eg, a ceramic coffee cup) can be used instead.

Answer 4

It seems to me that despite industry's claims,very few plastics are recycled.I think it would be a real good idea if someone invented a way for the homeowner to melt and remold plastics at home.
When I was a kid they hade a toy that you could use to mold other toys with.It came with a plunger fed heating device into which you would pour these plastic chips.After these heated up you slid a two-part mold into a slot at the base,and filled it by pushing down on the plunger.Let it cool,and voila-toy soldier!

Now I'll grant you this would never sell as a toy today-too much chance of getting burned-but something like this would be handy for munincipalities to make their own guardrails,traffic cones,picnic benches etc.

Answer 5

Yes it's bad. Styrofoam just won't go away. It's got its great uses, like insulating stuff, but I think for smaller paper goods that get littered so often is a bad idea that should stop.

Answer 6

If Styrofoam is bad for the environment it is only to an extraordinarily and excruciatingly minor and negligable extent. As for OTHER things, volcanoes, asteroids, comets and meteors are bad for the environment.

Answer 7

Drink your coffee in a paper disposable cup or a good old porcelain cup. Better for environment!

Answer 8

your friend is right. cigarette buts tires from cars ever seen a car tire burn they can burn for days and they cannot be put out and the smoke lord. for your coffee fix may i suggest you purchase a cup that will help keep coffee warm they have covers on them that you can close and open as you need

Answer 9

i would say any man-made object is harmful to the environment to some extent

Answer 10

yes.Plastic also harmful