Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Banned in Amherst

Probably the #1 purveyor of expanded polystyrene in Amherst, but America runs on it

 UPDATE Wednesday morning:  As Brookline goes ...

Based on a distinct lack of pre-Town Meeting buzz, I feel safe predicting the request for a ban on expanded polystyrene by the Recycling and Refuse Management Committee (article #9) will easily pass our esteemed legislative body, especially since it only require a majority vote.

Perhaps another reminder of how hard it is to get zoning items passed that also benefit the general public at large but may, in a narrow sense, inconvenience a few neighbors. A two thirds vote is a very high hurdle.

And it's not like Amherst government is leading the charge on this issue as the majority of impacted businesses and our institutes of higher education have already ditched expanded polystyrene.

A far cry from a dozen years ago when the Amherst Board of Health started the 'Smoking Ban in Bars War', a huge controversy that played out for a year, and is now so completely accepted statewide that most people forget what an epic battle it was.

My farmer friends would probably describe this current ban as "locking the barn door after the horse is gone," or my more colorful air force friends would dub it a "milk run". 

5 comments:

Walter Graff said...

Just a correction Larry. The cups you speak of are NOT Styrofoam. It is one of the most misused and incorrectly used terms going. The cups you speak of are made of expanded polystyrene foam. No coffee cup is made from Styrofoam. The trade mark you speak of (Styrofoam) is another term for extruded polystyrene foam. You can easily spot the difference. Styrofoam is always blue. The cup (white) is actually called a EPS cup. So I guess if the town bans Styrofoam, then technically the cups you speak of along with the cheap coolers people use in the summer will not be banned. In fact EPS is 100% recyclable and in some countries in Europe, it is recycled more than any other material.

Larry Kelley said...

Thanks. Are you sure you're not Dr. Ed?

Anonymous said...

C'mon, we all know that's Ed.

Walter Graff said...

Sorry. I'm not this person you speak of. My name is real. Look me up on Google.

Anonymous said...

I know Walter. He's a very nice guy. And he is definitely not Ed.