Gas Station Guzzlers

I wish I were speaking about of the Chevy Z71 I just filled with gas.  No.  I am talking about the huge plastic and mostly Styrofoam cups that have names like, “Big Gulp”, “The Chill”, and “Mega Mouth” in which you can buy fountain drinks for $1.29 or less. Ok, I made up two of those names but you get the point.

In the article “Too Big to Gulp”, author Azeen Ghorayshi documents how the size of drinks have changed over the last few decades.  But that is not all that has changed.  As more and more people swing by their Speedway to grab their carbonated caffeine before work, those Styrofoam cups, plastic lids, and straws add up too!

In an article presented at St. Louis University entitled “Real Cost of Styrofoam”, researchers Chandra, Kohn, Pawlitz, and Powell discover just how “costly” Styrofoam is to us.

Take a read of these two quotes:
1. “Styrofoam’s lightweight nature and its use with food products make it difficult and expensive to recycle, thus contributing to its accumulation in landfills (comprising as much as 30% of total landfill volume) and as litter (20% of Styrofoam estimated to end up in waterways).”

2. “[W]hile Styrofoam itself is inert, or unreactive, the compounds used in its production (benzene and styrene) have been identified as harmful to human health with neurological effects and increased risk of cancers, such as leukemia, from prolonged exposure.”

Finally the researchers arrive at the following comment through their study, “The results of our analyses suggest that the real cost of Styrofoam outweighs the benefits of its use. The impact of the social costs of production, the effects on the environment, and the risks to human health should be taken into account from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. The recommendation of our team is that individuals and businesses reduce their use of Styrofoam and take advantage of a growing number of alternative products.”

One easy solution is to just use a refillable cup!  Ahhh!  Refreshing! I Promise!