California may ban foam containers. What do you think?

[Robin Garr]

What do you think? Good "green" progress or regulatory overreach? Are you down with styrofoam, or do you like it when your takeout comes in biodegradable material like EcoSteward?

Calif. could be first state to ban foam containers
Reported in Boston.com. Link to full story below

SACRAMENTO - Restaurant owner Gary Honeycutt says a push in California’s Legislature to ban the plastic foam containers he uses to serve up takeout meals could cost him thousands of dollars in an industry where profit margins are razor thin.

BJ’s Kountry Kitchen, in the heart of California’s farm country, uses about 26,000 of the 9-inch foam clamshells a year, mostly for takeout by the customers who come in for the restaurant’s popular breakfast omelets.

“We put cheese on those omelets. And when we put the cheese on, it’s really hot and bubbly and it goes right through the biodegradable stuff,’’ he said. He said he expects his costs would more than double if the state requires him to use only biodegradable cartons.

The bill by state Senator Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat, would prohibit restaurants, grocery stores, and other vendors from dispensing food in expanded polystyrene containers beginning in 2016.

If signed into law, the measure would make California the first to institute a statewide ban on such containers.

More than 50 California cities and counties have similar bans.

For the complete story on Boston.com:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/artic ... ontainers/

It certainly seems like governments have a lot bigger problems they should be trying to solve instead of trying to impose more regulations on businesses. Businesses are already hurting in many cases and certainly don't need more burdens placed above them. Besides the foam containers keep food much hotter than the biodegradable ones!

I generallty detest government intrusion into private business affairs, but California historically does things like this and I expect that they will continue.

Personally I don't like foam containers because I think they tend to impart a smell or flavor on the food that I find objectionable. I also wonder if there is any residue that gets into the food. Have the health consequences ever been studied? I don't know the answer to this question.

I saw a Travel Channel program, I don't recall which, that showed take out lunches that were delivered in little tin containers that were returned and reused. I thought that look healthy and cool.

[Robin Garr]

I saw a Travel Channel program, I don't recall which, that showed take out lunches that were delivered in little tin containers that were returned and reused. I thought that look healthy and cool.

Might that have been in India? In Mumbai in particular, but probably in every Indian city with a burgeoning middle class, there's an entire industry of "tiffin wallahs" who make hot lunches, put them into containers like that, strap them up in stacks and deliver them to offices.

I wonder what will replace the foam ones? The need for such containers will not be diminished, and something will replace them. That something might be environmentally worse than the foam ones, plus cost more to boot.

[Robin Garr]

I wonder what will replace the foam ones? The need for such containers will not be diminished, and something will replace them. That something might be environmentally worse than the foam ones, plus cost more to boot.

There's a growing industry of biodegradable, compostable cardboard foam made from recycled paper, and it's aimed directly at this niche. You've probably seen them, maybe without noticing - Creation Gardens has a line called EcoSteward that's in wide use by local eateries:

http://www.whatchefswant.com/our-produc ... eward.html

The biggest problem with the reusable containers is the sterilization requirements, labor, detergents, hot water, etc. The dispersed environmental impact of these processes might also be worse than centrally manufactured foam ones.

There's a growing industry of biodegradable, compostable cardboard foam made from recycled paper, and it's aimed directly at this niche. You've probably seen them, maybe without noticing - Creation Gardens has a line called EcoSteward that's in wide use by local eateries:

http://www.whatchefswant.com/our-produc ... eward.html

I have seen them. Biodegradable doesn't always mean what you'd think it means for something in a landfill.

What do you think? Good "green" progress or regulatory overreach? Are you down with styrofoam, or do you like it when your takeout comes in biodegradable material like EcoSteward?

Calif. could be first state to ban foam containers
Reported in Boston.com. Link to full story below

“We put cheese on those omelets. And when we put the cheese on, it’s really hot and bubbly and it goes right through the biodegradable stuff,’’ he said. He said he expects his costs would more than double if the state requires him to use only biodegradable cartons.

For the complete story on Boston.com:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/artic ... ontainers/

I would think hot stuff does need something like foil underneath it in those bio-containers.

[Robin Garr]

I would think hot stuff does need something like foil underneath it in those bio-containers.

Could be, but my own experience using EcoSteward for takeouts is that the guy may be blowing smoke because, well, he just doesn't want to change.

I would think hot stuff does need something like foil underneath it in those bio-containers.

Could be, but my own experience using EcoSteward for takeouts is that the guy may be blowing smoke because, well, he just doesn't want to change.

Many people WANT to buy green-friendly products. If the cost difference is marginal (and not what he says) then those that change will benefit from the increase in business and his obstinance will cause him to fail.

I dont see the need for the law.

I watched the video. Well, if this is real and catches on, another part of our economy is going away... washing dishes. ~Just eat them.

[Robin Garr]

I watched the video. Well, if this is real and catches on, another part of our economy is going away... washing dishes. ~Just eat them.

Hey, the stir-fry veggies in fried potato basket at Roots Heart & Soy is awesome!

I saw a Travel Channel program, I don't recall which, that showed take out lunches that were delivered in little tin containers that were returned and reused. I thought that look healthy and cool.

Might that have been in India? In Mumbai in particular, but probably in every Indian city with a burgeoning middle class, there's an entire industry of "tiffin wallahs" who make hot lunches, put them into containers like that, strap them up in stacks and deliver them to offices.

Yeah that must be it.

One of my favorite stories about our two years in India is of going to the bazaar, getting a sack of roasted peanuts and finding my own handwriting on the bag. I was a teacher, the peanut-wallah's daughter was a student, and they had used her old school papers, with my corrections, to make bags. Wisdom. Wisdom lost more and more in that part of the world as the American culture of waste creeps in.

I find myself very reluctant to get carry-out, especially from Asian and Indian Restaurants. It is always a landfill of unrecycleable junk. Eat there.