Moving forward, can't we tax or ban styrofoam food containers, to encourage vendors to switch to paper and cardboard?
Less nasty crap in our landfills, and less plastics in our food and hot drinks, too.
Less nasty crap in our landfills, and less plastics in our food and hot drinks, too.
Back home in Portland, the trash cans are overflowing with other things.
It seems like companies have the processes in place to not use styrofoam if compelled to.
Styrofoam provides much more insulation.
If your hand is big enough and the cup is light enough you can support bottom of it with your pinky and the top of it with your thumb while horizontally balancing it with the rest of your fingers, you have three-finger redundancy if your coffee is too hot. The problem with the latter approach that little finger supports most of the weight of the cup and I can't hold more than a medium coffee.
I don't know if there are effective, inexpensive substitutes for those uses.
For others, like food containers, it's almost purely for cost reasons when other solutions exist.
Using styrofoam in helmets, car bumpers and refrigerators is a completely legitimate use case as it solves more problems than it creates, but using styrofoam in cups is just such a complete waste that only gives someone a tiny bit of convenience.
Lots of folks have been discussing, playing with (exploiting?), and researching [ASMR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_re...) over the last few years. However, I've yet to see any discussion about the possibility of a connection between ASMR and [misophonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia). I experience both (your comment caused me to shudder) and have a hunch that they form a duality or, if the distinction isn't that clear, are related.
"An ordinance passed last year requires all food and beverages prepared for dine-in or take-out to be placed in reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging.
That includes plates, serving boats and to-go containers -- cups and bowls have until April 22, 2017 to continue using non-recyclable plastic-lined paper.
The ordinance includes all restaurants, food trucks, grocery store delis and other mobile or seasonal vendors."
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/04/22/minneapoli...
Everything is cardboard and paper wrappers.
You can still by styrofoam disposable cups at the supermarket though, so maybe it's just a consumer based thing - consumers associate styrofoam packaging with cheap/nasty food.
http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/09/new-york-judge-overturns-p...
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/08/19/dunkin-donuts...