July 5, 2008
San Francisco, CA
Off the Menu
Dan Kling and Joel Smith are on Styrofoam patrol. The two volunteers walk the streets, clipboards in hand, making surprise visits to restaurants and checking to see whether anyone is still using Styrofoam, usually as to-go containers. The non-biodegradable material was banned in San Francisco restaurants this summer.
“We usually introduce ourselves, tell them we’re with San Francisco Environment and take a look at their to-go containers,” says Smith. “Then we assess what they have and give them some other options they can use.” Your Green Report caught the pair checking out downtown salad shop, Mixt Greens, where owner Leslie Swallow was more than happy to show them what she uses. “Since we opened we’ve only used compostable to-go containers,” says Swallow. “Not only in containers, but also in our drinks, straws, bags and dressing cups.” It’s a good thing too, since restaurants still serving Styrofoam could be fined up to five hundred bucks. So how’s the policy being received four months after the ban went into effect? San Francisco’s Commercial Recycling Director Jack Macy says he’s happy with the number of places falling in line. He says over three quarters of the city’s restaurants have stopped using Styrofoam. Macy also praised Mixt Greens. “What we saw here today was an example of corn based plastic that’s fully compostable and performs as well as your typical plastic.” Macy says there are plenty of other options for restaurants besides to-go containers. Options Swallow knows all about. “It was great to see the law come into effect to justify what we were doing even further.” If you’re interested in volunteering for SF Environment, click here |
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