SALINAS- The city of Salinas is the latest Central Coast community to take on the fight against Styrofoam. The city council will discuss banning it from restaurants tomorrow. Carmel was the first to ban the material from restaurants. Other cities to join include Pacific Grove, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Del Rey Oaks, as well as Monterey and Santa Cruz County.
Activists from groups like Save the Shores spend thousands of hours picking up plastic materials from Central Coast Beaches. They say when people litter to-go boxes or cups, the Styrofoam breaks down to small pieces animals mistake for food. While a good portion of the litter is on the shore lines, some reaches the ocean from rivers. Environmentalists say paper is a better option for take-out and to-go boxes because it breaks down easier than plastic.
The owners of Norma's Family restaurant in Salinas said they would like to make the switch to a more eco-friendly material, but they're worried it will affect their bottom line since paper costs more than Styrofoam.
Restaurants in Monterey started the transition to paper earlier this year. Some owners said they had to make changes to compensate for the increase in price of supplies.
"We're just very mindful of giving away to-go containers. Obviously, if a customer has a half a plate of food left that they paid for we will offer it. But, we try not to give stuff away unless we have to," said Captain Bullwackers manager James Ligins.
It's something Save the Shores spokesperson Lauren Gilligan hopes more restaurants start doing.
"People, unfortunately, litter all the time. I think it would be great if we could enforce it, but unfortunately there's not enough policemen in the world to enforce litter laws. I do definitely support them but it's not working enough to a make a huge impact like this polystyrene ban will," said Gilligan.
By Briana Bermensolo
