Styrofoam, also known as polystyrene, is a plastic that can be found everywhere but unfortunately is also very hard to recycle. You may have already discovered that your recycling company won’t take it, like most. The reason for this is the petroleum-derived material it’s made from takes a long time to break down, is highly flammable and can kill animals if they accidentally eat it.
For these reasons, I find it amazing that this material is used in so many different places, especially in the food industry.
You may also see different products that are made from Styrofoam but don’t appear to be. If you’re not sure, you can always look for the number 6 stamped in the recycling symbol somewhere on the product. Since it will probably be a long time before many people stop using Styrofoam, it’s a good idea to know what to do with it in the mean time. The easy thing to do is just stop using it or avoid buying products made from Styrofoam. Unfortunately, you can’t stop other people from shipping you items that you buy filled with those “peanuts” that are made from polystyrene or some other filler made from the same.
To start with, if you do have Styrofoam products or items currently, avoid throwing it into your garbage and look for ways to recycle it. As I mentioned early, this may be hard to do. Styrofoam can be recycled though but is normally recycled to make more of the same. If you’ll looking to keep the Styrofoam you do have out of the garbage pile, here are a few tips you can use:
* Keep the Styrofoam for packaging. You may need to ship something later and keeping the Styrofoam you do have will definitely help your package stay safe. Just break larger chunks of Styrofoam into smaller pieces and keep them in a bag. If you have smaller pieces that may get lost around the house, wrap it up using plastic shopping bags you may still have laying around.
* Give it to other people who can use it for shipping. You can give it to your friends and family for shipping their items especially, like my mother, for people who like to sell items on eBay. You can also find craft stores who take styrofoam for various craft projects. You can even use polystyrene in planters as filler which improves water drainage.
* Recycle it. Searching online for different companies that will recycle it is the easiest way to find someone who will take it to recycle. Some recyclers will even allow you to mail it to them, if there aren’t any in your area. You may even earn a little money from these recyclers if you have a bunch of Styrofoam for them.
The best option is prevention so the first thing you should do, as I mentioned earlier, is to not buy any and look for companies, if the information is available, who use other products to fill their boxes for shipping. Many of us do find it hard to avoid though and the above tips should help you in knowing what to do with this un-ecofriendly material.
Would you like to learn more about how to go green to save our environment? Read more go green tips at Michelle’s GOGREEN Blog.
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