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These containers and disposable items are considered recyled items on a LEVEL 6.
How can people avoid polystyrene (commonly known as the brand Styrofoam) for cups, plates, carry-out containers and anything else that might touch consumables?
These items were designed to be used for a few minutes , for the convenience of the fast food crowd. OFten after eating the food, these items get tossed in the trash. Some of these containers would be kept longer if the take-out items would be kept in the refrigerator. The thing is, how does one know if these items are sanitary when these have been sitting in some pile in the back of a restaurant? Did anyone wash the actual styrofoam container a person brought home? How would the consumer know?
Any person who would be an advocate for any "green movement" worth his or her salt knows that polystyrene is bad for the environment: but few know that it isn't so great for your health either. Plastics marked with the recycling code 6, for polystyrene, can be fashioned into soft or rigid foams, and are in common use. Not only do they require petroleum to make, but they take eons to break down in the environment.
But what you might not know is that polystyrene can also release potentially toxic breakdown products (including styrene), particularly when heated! If you don't want harmful chemicals leaching into your food or drink, even at low concentrations, choose ceramic, glass (recycled), paper or safer plastics like numbers 1, 2 or 5.
I wonder after rummaging around my house what types of plastic items I can throw, and what should I just keep in some dark attic until someone invents a way that plastic can be disposed off without harming the environment. I also wonder if keeping plastic in a container ( made of plastic) will keep for a long time and not be harmful if left alone? I just can't dump it anywhere knowing that even if its recycled, it will be made into more harmful products.
