Conscious Consumers: Lets get rid of Polystyrene in Colorado!

Conscious Consumers: Lets get rid of Polystyrene in Colorado!

Started
February 12, 2013
Petition to
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam and 2 others
Petition Closed
This petition had 3,154 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Alex Bowen

"There are three principles that should govern better materials. Firstly, they should be able to be created almost anywhere on the planet. Secondly, they should require considerably less energy to produce than current materials. Lastly, they should be able to be disposed of by nature's wonderful open-source recycling system." Eben Bayer

The following petition is addressed to Colorado State Legislators. I believe that this is a business practice that is detrimental to the environment and action is needed now to stop doing further harm. We can only be effective at a state level when we have the appropriate legislation in order to ban polystyrene foam/polystyrene. We want the State Legislators to lift the state prohibition on local bans of the "use or sale of specific types of plastic materials or products."

Lets get rid of Polystyrene for good in Boulder, and Colorado!  There is absolutely no reason to keep producing polystyrene foam and polystyrene. We need to ban this harmful substance and keep it away from our food and drink!

Polystyrene recycling is not “closed loop” – collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
-”Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws,” Everyone’s Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.

polystyrene foam is hazardous to human health. It contains the neurotoxins styrene and benzene, which are widely accepted to be carcinogens. These toxins can leach into food that’s acidic, warm, alcoholic or oily and into the environment after exposure to rain and other weather. This means that it’s critical that you don’t microwave food in styrofoam or put hot food into polystyrene foam containers. Out of an abundance of caution, you shouldn’t eat from polystyrene foam at all.

Also, did you know 57 chemical by-products are released during the creation of Polystyrene? That is a lot of chemicals to safely dispose.

We want to encourage restaurants and establishments to buy eco-friendly choices to eliminate the use of polystyrene foam, that include features such as:
-Manufactured from renewable resources
-Contain biodegradable materials
-Are easily recycled

As environmentally conscious consumers, we can drive the demand and supply! Lets drive down the demand for polystyrene foam! We also want to use this petition as a check on the City of Boulder to make sure they are maximizing their efforts where appropriate. 

By signing this petition, YOU are educating restaurants and other establishments about the health and environmental hazards associated with polystyrene foam! There are great alternatives out there, such as sugar cane based products, recycled paper products and corn based products.

 

The City of Boulder supports the use of incentives and other tactics to reduce Polystyrene! Intentions are great - but action is what we are looking for! We want the City of Boulder to implement protocol to reduce and remove Polystyrene use in Boulder!  We want to use this petition as a check on the City of Boulder to make sure they are maximizing their efforts where appropriate in this matter. But the most change that can happen is from the State Legislator - that is why most of all, we want the State Legislators to lift the state prohibition on local bans of the "use or sale of specific types of plastic materials or products."

 

The state prohibition on local bans we want to lift!

 SECTION 7.  25-17-104, Colorado Revised Statutes, 1989 Repl. Vol., is amended to read:

25-17-104.  Local government preemption. No unit of local government shall require or prohibit the use or sale of specific types of plastic materials or products or restrict or mandate containers, packaging, or labeling for any consumer products.

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We want to see people foster and develop healthy consumer and waste habits, as well as cultural responses that benefit the environment and support petitions like mine. 

Approaching zero waste is a matter of changing the way our culture thinks about waste, use and reuse.

We would like to see restaurants be required to use recyclable containers or compostable take out containers. 

We want to get people to understand their consumer purchasing power and that the waste materials, such as polystyrene, end of in landfills and contribute to the segregation of ecosystems, the environment and is powerful in determining the success of policies which we hope to encourage. 

We need both a proactive government and committed citizens to make this goal achievable.  

Along with these local goals and policies we need to also get to the root of the problem, which is packaging and manufacturing goods that enter the market that are disposable. 

 As a community we should shift our priorities to address these environmental issue that have significant affects to our health and land use. 

It is about aggressive state and local policy, public-private partnerships, outreach and public engagement. 

San Francisco and its Zero Waste Goals and Policies are a shining example of what is possible. 

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Great video of what I hope to do:

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2013/03/20133572128522944.html

Our Press Coverage Thus Far!

CU student launches grassroots effort to ban use of polystyrene food containers in Boulder

 

Effort growing to ban Styrofoam in Boulder

Boulder Daily Camera

 

Boulder may take aim against Styrofoam

Denver Business Journal

 

Effort growing to ban Styrofoam in Boulder

Denver Post 

Petition Closed

This petition had 3,154 supporters

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Decision Makers

  • Jane S. BrautigamCity Manager
  • David DriskellExecutive Director of Community Planning and Sustainability
  • Jamie HarkinsBusiness Sustainability Specialist