Last night I took my family to our favorite local snack bar. It was the perfect place to end a late summer day, that is, until my dinner came out in a large Styrofoam (polystyrene) clamshell. I proclaimed it my last visit to this snack bar. I just can’t enjoy a meal when I’m thinking about how long my plate is going to be around.

Most of us have heard something like “It takes 900 years for Styrofoam to break down”. Admittedly, this is often at the top of my mind when I unwillingly encounter Styrofoam or other non-recyclable plastics. Do I really want to pollute the earth for 900 years so that I can have this cup of ice cream? If my own will power won’t keep me from eating the ice cream, the image of the cup in the landfill until the year 2909 usually will.

On the other hand, I recently learned that polystyrene breaking down isn’t such a good thing. Results from a study presented at the American Chemical Society this month revealed that plastics are not as stable as was once thought in the ocean environment where they are exposed to environmental elements like sun and rain. As the plastic disintegrates it releases substances such as bisphenol A and polystyrene oligomers. Both are not found naturally and both have potential health implications for humans and wildlife. As our appetite for plastics continues and the concentrations of these substances rise, our oceans and their inhabitants will carry much of the burden.

I’ve been carrying around re-usable food containers in my car for my restaurant leftovers and often outright reject food served in Styrofoam. But I’m in the minority, as I continue to see polystyrene at restaurants, fairs, markets, grocery stores and as packaging materials (although not from our vendors). I’m afraid this problem isn’t going away anytime soon.

I believe strongly in a bio-based world so I was interested to hear about 16-year old Tseng I-Ching in Taiwan who indentified a bacteria in the gut of the mealworm beetle that can break down polystyrene. She formed her hypothesis after she saw the beetles nibbling on Styrofoam. These findings are encouraging, but I can’t help but wonder, how toxic are those beetle droppings?