Tell Our Legislators to Ban Polystyrene Foam Containers

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

414 million pieces of plastic. All on the beach.

Marine scientists conducted a comprehensive survey of debris on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and found 414 million pieces of plastic, weighing 238 metric tons.¹ It’s just the latest sign that plastic pollution is out of control, threatening whales, turtles and other wildlife. That’s why we’re working to ban one of the worst forms of plastic pollution here in Pennsylvania.

Tell your legislators to put wildlife over waste by banning polystyrene foam containers at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=32814.

How do 414 million pieces of plastic wind up on a set of remote islands in the Indian Ocean with a population of only 600?² We throw out tons of single-use plastic stuff — cups, plates, bags, containers, forks, knives, spoons and more — every day. And one of the worst forms of plastic is polystyrene foam cups and containers.

Polystyrene foam, what most people call Styrofoam, never fully breaks down. It breaks into smaller and smaller pieces that blow into our environment, drift into our waterways, and ultimately flow into the ocean. Too often wildlife mistake these floating bits of plastic for food, which can lead to their bodies filling with plastics, causing them to starve. This problem has a simple solution: Stop using so much of this stuff.

Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our waterways and harm our wildlife for hundreds of years.

Act to ban polystyrene foam statewide.

We know this approach can work. Already this year, Maine and Maryland have become the first two states in the country to ban polystyrene cups and containers, and Vermont is on the brink of being next. With your help, we can make Pennsylvania next.

Make Pennsylvania a leader against plastic pollution.

1. Ben Smee, “414 million pieces of plastic found on remote island group in Indian Ocean,” The Guardian, May 16, 2019.
2. Ben Smee, “414 million pieces of plastic found on remote island group in Indian Ocean,” The Guardian, May 16, 2019.