Modifying behavior takes a generation..... not a year. The solution to pollution is that it be deposited in bins for proper waste disposal. I can remember in the 60's and 70's when the roads in the United States were covered with litter and they took to an all out TV and radio campaign to stop it. Banks and businesses handed out trash bags with their logos on them that hung from the radio knob in a car. School children saw the ads with the Indian chief with a tear in his eye when he saw the trash in the streams. Littering fines were enforced.The US cleaned up.... so can The Bahamas (my adopted home). If we use Mr. Pinder's logic, nobody
recycles glass or aluminum on Grand Bahama Island. I see far more beer bottles along the roadways than foam products. Should stores stop selling beer and put the hard working people at the breweries out of work? The I dare say there are better ways to tackle the issue of foam trash than stopping sales and affecting the livelihood of 100's of Bahamians. However, first Mr. Pinder needs to get the facts straight.... styrene has been listed as a "possible carcinogen" for more than 25 years without one single documented case with direct relation to being a carcinogen. Due to the process of polymerization, the styrene residual in food grade expandable polystyrene (Styrofoam is a trademarked name to Dow Chemical and relates to foam insulation board.... not what is in a foam cup) is measured in parts per million and are kept well below the US guidelines for allowable residual styrene in food contact containers. Would you not think that with current technology, someone could connect one case to styrene being a "possible carcinogen" over the past 25 plus years if it was truly the case? So let's get smart about this and tackle the behavior that leads to pollution as the solution and not throw unfounded scare tactics out there. And by the way..... the Bahamas is looking for new investment by Bahamians.... how about a complete recycling business from glass to metal to plastic. Plastics are 100% recyclable and as long as there temperature threshold is not exceeded, most can be recycled over and over again. Many recycling centers in the US take in all trash before it goes to a landfill to separate out the recyclables (no- I am not trying to put sanitation people out of work either, but adding more jobs before the landfill. Unlike other places, islands have precious small areas to dedicate to massive landfills. Another question to ask yourself especially on an island..... biodegradable means that items degrade into their basic elements. If a paper cup could biodegrade (not counting the plastic that keeps the liquid from soaking out into your car's cupholder), all of its basic elements and the chemicals used to break wood fibers down to make paper will end up in your ground water..... food for thought.