Capping the Styrofoam cup debate

The Muse (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
ST. JOHN'S (CUP) - The choice between paper or plastic when manufacturing fast food take-out cups can spark a serious war of words as both claim to be the more environmentally friendly option.
"Basically, for my type of business, [Styrofoam] is the only real way to keep a beverage cold or hot. Either way the paper products out there simply don't work and I would argue from the research I've done, they're just as bad or worse than Styrofoam," said Rob Collins, owner of Hava Java, a coffee shop in downtown St. John's, NL.
"People are under the false impression that paper will automatically biodegrade in a landfill, but it simply doesn't if it doesn't have any oxygen. Put a little bit of soil over it and it will last for hundreds of years."
Booster Juice, a smoothie and juice franchise, also uses polystyrene cups, commonly referred to by the brand name Styrofoam. Andrew Squires, owner and manager of the outlet at Memorial University of Newfoundland, agrees with Collins about the benefits of plastic versus paper.
"Everyone wants paper because they say paper is biodegradable, but when you get a wax coating on it like they have at some places, it's not. And factories that create [paper produce] way more emissions and deplete the ozone layer when making paper cups than Styrofoam. Styrofoam doesn't deplete the ozone layer at all, at the manufacturing plant, not one bit," he said.
Booster Juice has compiled a list of facts about their polystyrene cups that they post at each of their locations.
A 1991 article in the San Francisco Chronicle has fuelled some of this debate. The article "Plastic Finds Friend In Canadian Chemist" by Charles Petit, discussed a report from Canadian chemist Martin B. Hocking on paper versus polystyrene.
Hocking claimed that the production of paper cups uses more petroleum, and energy, and produces more pollution in landfills and water systems than the production of plastic foams.
Hocking's report also backs up Booster Juice's claim that the production of polystyrene does not destroy the ozone layer, though the pentane gas used in the production of polystyrene does trap light, contributing to the greenhouse effect - also known as global warming. Hocking claimed, however, that the methane produced by paper cup production contributes to global warming even more.
Katie Temple, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Network, agrees that paper cups are not an environmentally friendly option, but doesn't think that polystyrene is the best option, either, because it is still disposable.
"Every time somebody uses a Styrofoam cup it gets tossed out, so it goes into the garbage and contributes to the problem of landfills," she said.
"Also, with the manufacture of Styrofoam cups there's a lot of release of toxins into the environment, because Styrofoam is a type of plastic, it's made of polystyrene, so it's manufactured first from petroleum products, which in and of itself, is unsustainable because it's coming from a non-renewable resource."
Temple went on to add that the toxins, known as dioxins, are a known human carcinogen. When they are released into the atmosphere, they contaminate human bodies, food and wildlife. In addition, Temple said that polystyrene cups break down when hot liquid is put in them, and a small amount of polystyrene leeches into the drink.
"Overall I would just recommend that people use reusable cups, just bring your own mug along or travel mug," she said.
"I think some businesses could offer the option to their customers of buying a reusable mug. They could offer incentives for people to bring in their own reusable mug, a small percentage decrease off the price, that kind of thing. There's tons of ways they can get creative to encourage people to bring in mugs, and they actually save money by not providing the disposable ones - they won't have to buy as many."
"We have to encourage a culture where it's unacceptable to use disposable cups, because it really is very wasteful and there's no reason why most people can't bring a travel mug around wherever they go."
Both Hava Java and Booster Juice have sold reusable cups or mugs in the past, but both are currently out of stock and looking for new options. Collins said he is having trouble finding reusable travel mugs with stainless steel insides, and the company that previously made Booster Juice's reusable plastic cups has stopped producing them.
"[Booster Juice is] working very hard on it. My brother, who is my partner, he was just in Halifax for a regional meeting and it was a major topic of discussion, and the fellow that owns the entire franchise, he was there and he promised that they were doing everything they could to get it going," Squires said.
In the meantime Squires says that at the Memorial University location they will put their smoothies into reusable containers brought by students, though it is against normal Booster Juice product safety policy to put their product into a container without their logo on it.
Both Squires and Collins say their stores are more progressive than most - Collins claimed that Hava Java have been recycling long before most stores, and Squires said he composts all their fruit waste, and reuses their plastic yogurt and sorbet containers.
"[Booster Juice] is really on the ball. It's a healthy conscious people, and they tend to be environmentally friendly, and they've always been going down that road," he said.