Amid all the rancor about certain cities in California passing legislation punishing businesses that offer plastic straws to consumers comes this report about styrofoam. It should not be banned. Mealworms eat plastic. Burning styrofoam in an incinerator generates water and carbon dioxide, stuff plants like to consume. So, in short: styrofoam is not the evil, environmental demon folks once thought it was. And for an added bonus, read about how a man built his home out of styrofoam to withstand tornadoes.
Turning to plastics and straws, banning stuff really never works. If the failed federal War on Drugs offers any sort of educational epiphany, it should be that banning things only creates more problems for everyone. Banning straws and sending people to jail for providing straws to consumers is not a good idea and will likely see increased costs imposed on society and individuals alike.
What can be done? Hemp! While the non-THC version of cannabis is not an end-all-be-all miracle plant, it does offer quite a bit in the way of producing plastic that is biodegradable. Generally speaking, plastic made from hemp can be one great solution to combatting plastic pollution throughout the world. Unfortunately, in the United States, hemp production is largely illegal even though some states such as Colorado have budding hemp industries that can and should later offer even more economic benefits for residents in the form of jobs, entrepreneurship, and offering folks additional, and perhaps, less expensive forms of products, from food to housing, made from hemp.
So the next time you read or hear someone state straws should be banned, tell them no. And then maybe you can suggest that hemp should be legalized throughout the United States so that local businesses can begin to create products made from hemp, including plastics. The plant ain't a miracle but it sure can help the environment in more ways than I can state here.
Meanwhile, read this excellent article from Purdue University about hemp.