Student Message: Let’s stop using styrofoam!

Dear AISL community, 

My name is Rode Tarekegne.  I am in Grade 10, and for my personal project, I took up the daunting task of writing a bill that would ban styrofoam in Zambia. 

My interest in banning styrofoam in Zambia came about when I just moved (I’m new) from Zimbabwe, where using styrofoam is illegal. 

Everyone is aware of how useful styrofoam is for everyday life, but not as many people know what affects styrofoam has on our health and environment. To start off with, styrofoam takes from 500 years to forever to biodegrade (see source below: “Measuring Biodegradability”). Like plastic, all it does is go through different environments changing forms. However, the fact that it changes forms doesn’t mean it’s biodegrading, but it’s simply dividing into smaller pieces due to the elements. 

Healthwise, when you use a styrofoam cup, particularly with a warm beverage inside like coffee or tea, harmful toxins like styrene bleed into your beverage (see source below: “Going Green Services”). I’m hoping you will help me by stopping purchasing and using styrofoam, even at school as we strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible. 

Look at this source to find out more about styrofoam!

Image source:
Tang, Aaron. Boey.styrofoam.cup.22. 22 June 2009. Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/hahatango/4210743654. Accessed Nov. 2019.

Works Cited:
Going Green Services. "Why You Should Never Use Styrofoam Again." Going Green Services , edited by Going Green Services, www.goinggreenservices.com/Articles.asp?ID=260. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

"Measuring Biodegradability." Science Learning Hub, New Zealand Government, 19 June 2008, www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1543-measuring-biodegradability. Accessed 29 Sept. 2019.