January 14, 2015

New York City: A Step in the Green Direction

Here at Paperless Kitchen, we know the harm that styrofoam and plastic containers have on the environment. But we have great news! New York City has decided to ban styrofoam containers as of July 1st, 2015 in an effort to reduce non-recyclable waste! You will no longer find these kinds of containers in restaurants, food carts, cafes, delis or any other place!

On Dec. 31, 2014, Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia sent a letter to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio that concluded there is no way to properly recycle polystyrene materials and therefore a ban is the only next logical step. Since styrofoam never decomposes it makes up one of the biggest pollutants in our waterways and oceans today.

"These products cause real environmental harm and have no place in New York City,” de Blasio said in a statement Thursday. “We have better options, better alternatives, and if more cities across the country follow our lead and institute similar bans, those alternatives will soon become more plentiful and will cost less.”

Paperless Kitchen carries a variety of eco-friendly alternatives to plastic and styrofoam containers and we are excited to see what safe, eco-friendly products vendors chose to utilize when the ban is put into place.

Innovations in eco-friendly products have provided us with so many options such as Leafware Dinnerware, Susty Party and Bamboo Studio. Plates, bowls, containers, cups and more can now be created from fallen palm leaves, bamboo, sugar cane and even tapioca starch.

Coming up: Styrofoam contains will also be banned next year in the District of Columbia under a law signed by then-D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray. We are so happy to see lawmakers take an interest in saving the planet.

Read more about the ban at the following links:

Washington Post

Huffington Post