Polystyrene’s place in a country of Green. Part 1.
On average, it takes anywhere form 6 months to 2 years from grapes on the vine to wine in the bottle. It takes three to five days to ship to its destination, and about one day to drink. The time it takes the styrofoam packaging used to ship the wine to decompose? 900 years.
Is your wine worth 900 years of decomposition?
Styrofoam, more accurately called foamed polystyrene, has taken a beating over the last few years for its reputation of unrecyclability and the environmental damage it causes. Yet we still see polystyrene on a daily basis; coffee cups, takeaway containers, and wine packaging all utilize its durability and low cost. Prior to today I had no clue what polystyrene was or how it is made so I decided to do a little digging and find out for myself and other ADHD minded people (read: the entire internet).
What is Styrofoam? The short answer is the extraction of a product from crude oil called polystyrene. What does that mean? Polystyrene is the material, Styrofoam is the patented name for the product that Dow chemical company manufactures. What we commonly call styrofoam is, in fact, not Styrofoam. The form that we see on a daily basis is made from a different material which has moisture resistant and insulating properties for use in pipe insulation, floral products and building materials. The foam in coffee cups and the like is made from expanded polystyrene beads.
