Answer: "White, seemingly indestructible, and bad for the environment."

[OWC Jamie]

mattkime wrote:
>>How we manage the solid waste stream is an entirely separate thing.

Its clearly not separate. Until all garbage is contained, we might as well throw some percentage of those styrofoam cups directly into the ocean.

Where do the bleach and other chemicals from recycling paper go ?
Mars ?
Because one can "see" pollution visibly it is somehow unjustifiable in comparison ?
They both suck.



That paper cup you throw in the landfill will still be a paper cup 20 years from now just like the styrofoam cup.
Crush both and guess which one takes less space. Yes, styrofoam wins.
Guess which costs more to make. Ha-ha, styrofoam wins again.
Guess which one uses less raw materials and energy to produce . Yup, styrofoam.
Which one weighs less and costs less to ship ( trying to cut back on fossil fuel use here ? ) styrofoam wins again.



I use a ceramic or glass mug and will only buy a paper cup because I shred them and put them in the compost.
Most people won't make that effort.
It may use a bit more energy, but 50 years from now when I am gone I will have left less of an impact ecologically on the earth.


Styrofoam cups should go in the landfill or be recycled. More landfills may be mined in the future and those cups may be valuable.
But yeah, no reason to be a slob and toss crap in the woods or ocean that nature will struggle with.