mark1447 Posted February 14, 2013 Share #1 Posted February 14, 2013 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will propose a ban on Styrofoam, the substance commonly used for take-out food containers that is almost impossible to recycle. The mayor who has already targeted fat, sugar and salt in the city will turn to extruded polystyrene foam, saying it clogs up landfills, does not biodegrade and might harm human health. Bloomberg will raise the proposal in his final State of the City speech on Thursday. The city provided reporters an advance text of the speech on Wednesday. Bloomberg, in his 12th year as mayor, has made public health and sustainability hallmarks of his three terms in office, and he has taken aim repeatedly at the fast-food industry - most recently in his controversial plan to bar the sale of large portions of sugary soda, which goes into effect next month. Styrofoam, he says, should go the way of lead-based paint, which the city banned from residential use in 1960. An estimated 20,000 tons of Styrofoam enter the city's waste stream each year, and it can add an estimated $20 per ton to the cost of recycling because it needs to be removed from the recycling stream, the city said. "After all, we can live without it. We may live longer without it. And the doggie bag will survive just fine," the text of Bloomberg's speech says. More: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/13/16954882-new-york-city-mayor-wants-to-ban-styrofoam?lite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User Posted February 14, 2013 Share #2 Posted February 14, 2013 You've gotta be kidding me. A ban on Styrofoam? You really wanna get rid of styrofoam, take all of it and put it in a bowl of nail polish remover and watch it disappear. Then just pour it down the drain or in the sewer and its gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbluefoxie Posted February 14, 2013 Share #3 Posted February 14, 2013 Bloomberg wants to ban everything it seems, also the -1 was in response to Bloomberg not to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreeddekalbL Posted February 14, 2013 Share #4 Posted February 14, 2013 i can see the next thing he is after banning potato chips! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astoria Line Posted February 14, 2013 Share #5 Posted February 14, 2013 Oh yes guys lets just ban oxygen while we are at it too! This idiot wants to ban EVERYTHING, at least next year he is out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted February 14, 2013 Share #6 Posted February 14, 2013 Let's ban Bloomberg from being mayor and then do the same to all the other rats out there in politics. Now that's a better idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted February 14, 2013 Share #7 Posted February 14, 2013 Even if he bans the sale or processing of styrofoam in NYC, people will still receive lots of it in packages, etc., and throw it away just like they do now. Silly proposal on the local level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted February 14, 2013 Share #8 Posted February 14, 2013 Can't wait till this idiot is out of office Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GojiMet86 Posted February 14, 2013 Share #9 Posted February 14, 2013 And now starts the slippery slope. You've gotta be kidding me. A ban on Styrofoam? You really wanna get rid of styrofoam, take all of it and put it in a bowl of nail polish remover and watch it disappear. Then just pour it down the drain or in the sewer and its gone! It has to go somewhere... Styrofoam, he says, should go the way of lead-based paint, which the city banned from residential use in 1960. An estimated 20,000 tons of Styrofoam enter the city's waste stream each year, and it can add an estimated $20 per ton to the cost of recycling because it needs to be removed from the recycling stream, the city said. Bloomberg is really stretching it, but through an economic lens, I can see why he would pursue it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCtrainfan01 Posted February 14, 2013 Share #10 Posted February 14, 2013 Here we go again.... Anything else you want to ban Emperor Bloomberg? These bans are ridiculous... Bloomberg needs to focus on more important things than these asinine bans... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted February 14, 2013 Share #11 Posted February 14, 2013 Bloomberg wants to ban everything it seems, also the -1 was in response to Bloomberg not to you. Well, don't shoot the messenger now I'm in agreement that these bans are getting out of control. For goodness sakes, find something else more productive than this. Styrofoam may not be environmentally friendly, but it has to be better than plastic containers. Some plastic containers are so cheap that they just break apart if you tug at the lid too hard. At least the Styrofoam is more flexible and durable. Also aren't they good insulators for drinks etc? Better than the cardboard cups imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbluefoxie Posted February 14, 2013 Share #12 Posted February 14, 2013 Greenville South Carolina* is looking very nice right about now, they don't ban things down there like they do up here. *could be any southern city, it was just the first one that came to the top of my head people reuse styrofoam, my family we keep those packing peanuts and we reuse em when we gotta ship stuff out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Up Front Posted February 14, 2013 Share #13 Posted February 14, 2013 So if I bring in a large drink/fast food/styrofoam from Nassau, then Bloomberg's secret Anti-Junk-Food-and-Styrofoam Squad will come and arrest me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbluefoxie Posted February 14, 2013 Share #14 Posted February 14, 2013 What about if someone buys a computer, those come in styrofoam packaging to keep it from damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheTransitMan Posted February 14, 2013 Share #15 Posted February 14, 2013 Oh yes guys lets just ban oxygen while we are at it too! This idiot wants to ban EVERYTHING, at least next year he is out. No, this actually is a good ban. Styrofoam is not biodegradable meaning that it does not just rot away. Also a lot of it winds up in our oceans and landfills, which are near capacity, harming the animals in the local ecosystem because it is slightly toxic. For humans on the other hand Styrofoam is believed to be a carcinogen.* Something should be done about a lot of the crap that is going into the trash don't you think? *http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol82/82-07.html Some reading on Styrofoam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrofoam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbluefoxie Posted February 14, 2013 Share #16 Posted February 14, 2013 If we have capacity issues in the landfills, why did the city close one of its biggest landfills a while back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-CT1660- Posted February 14, 2013 Share #17 Posted February 14, 2013 If only Bloomberg would ban all NIMBY's and all those whining tree-hugging hippies...at least that would be a ban that would actually be of any use... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheTransitMan Posted February 14, 2013 Share #18 Posted February 14, 2013 If we have capacity issues in the landfills, why did the city close one of its biggest landfills a while back Do you mean Fresh Kills? If so that place was used to store the debris from the world trade center attacks. That place was probably toxic. On top of that they want to build a park on top of it. Those are the two main reasons why that place closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted February 14, 2013 Share #19 Posted February 14, 2013 I believe they closed the landfill before the attacks (not totally sure), but I still can't see how they are going to build a park over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheTransitMan Posted February 14, 2013 Share #20 Posted February 14, 2013 I believe they closed the landfill before the attacks (not totally sure), but I still can't see how they are going to build a park over it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Kills_Landfill You are technically right but they re-opened it right after the attacks to store the debris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo19 Posted February 14, 2013 Share #21 Posted February 14, 2013 If you guys are angry at just NYC proposing this, at least it isn't being proposed statewide like it was in California. Me personally, I feel that there are many other alternatives to foodservice styrofoam packaging that are avaliable to most resturants and merchants. The cost is comparable as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User Posted February 14, 2013 Share #22 Posted February 14, 2013 I'm not against the ban, but I do think what Bloomberg has been doing is a joke because it seems to me that he has too much control over the city, hence my sarcastic comment above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realizm Posted February 14, 2013 Share #23 Posted February 14, 2013 Loled hard at the comments. I concur. Someone needs to put a ban on Bloomberg. I'm not against the ban, but I do think what Bloomberg has been doing is a joke because it seems to me that he has too much control over the city, hence my sarcastic comment above. And that's my thinking. Of course from a ecological point of view, yes styrofoam is harmful to the environment but it's all about principle also the real intentions behind imposing such bans. Mayor Bloomberg is catering to the special interest groups who wishes to flaunt their weight on the lives of the average New Yorker by banning everything in sight. I also suspect he is doing so with the intentions in mind of stealing away revenue from the average New Yorker to the city by means of broadening the ability to impose more fines by establishing such bans left and right like a greedy maniac. Oh on the nailpolish remover comment, you reminded me of when in Earth Science class in junior high school, I used to put styrofoam in flasks and watch it magically go away when I douse it with acetone then set it all on fire!!! I got suspended for a week for that stunt btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User Posted February 14, 2013 Share #24 Posted February 14, 2013 Oh on the nailpolish remover comment, you reminded me of when in Earth Science class in junior high school, I used to put styrofoam in flasks and watch it magically go away when I douse it with acetone then set it all on fire!!! I got suspended for a week for that stunt btw. Really? Because that sounds more like Chemistry class where I did that as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbluefoxie Posted February 14, 2013 Share #25 Posted February 14, 2013 If you guys are angry at just NYC proposing this, at least it isn't being proposed statewide like it was in California. Me personally, I feel that there are many other alternatives to foodservice styrofoam packaging that are avaliable to most resturants and merchants. The cost is comparable as well. And there are stories about people gettin the hell out of California and moving to neighboring Arizona and Nevada to get away from the higher taxes and nanny state nonsense in California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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