- Posted by: Athena Lo
- Category: Biodegradable, Compostable, Environment, Material Alternatives, Package Design, Packaging, Urban Planning, Waste, bioplastic, city initiatives, mandates, plastic, plastics
Seattle Is Styrofoam Free!
Along with cities like Portland, OR and San Francisco, CA, Seattle is making the jump to eliminating EPS (expanded polystyrene) from all food service facilities effective January 1, 2009. Mayor Nickels and Council President Conlin have proposed a complete conversion from EPS products to compostable and recyclable replacements by July 1, 2010. This is an important difference from previous attempts to get rid of Styrofoam because often, the alternatives used were not any better. With more compostable products coming on to the market today the conversion may be much quicker than expected.
To help identify what products fall into this category, they are directing citizens to a list of compostable products from the Cedar Grove Composting site in Washington. Many of the products on the list include corn based PLA plastics and recycled paper containers. Perhaps these kinds of mandates will also help increase the production of other solutions that could help us think outside the box (pun intended) like the banana leaf wrapper.
We’ve been keeping our own list of compostable and sustainable packaging that could help Seattle reach it’s goal, take a look!
Rlated Posts
Paper Water Bottle Replaces Plastic
Closing the Loop on Plastic Bottle Recycling
Green Festival San Francisco
Inspiration for Designers Worldwide
100% Sustainable House at West Coast Green
on January 15th, 2009 at 11:25 am
This sort of initiative is the type of thing that needs to occur in every major city across the country. Policy makers can learn valuable lessons from forward-thinking administrations.