Calif. could be first state to ban foam containers

[Synicus Maximus]

Source: AP

SACRAMENTO - Restaurant owner Gary Honeycutt says a push in California’s Legislature to ban the plastic foam containers he uses to serve up takeout meals could cost him thousands of dollars in an industry where profit margins are razor thin.

BJ’s Kountry Kitchen, in the heart of California’s farm country, uses about 26,000 of the 9-inch foam clamshells a year, mostly for takeout by the customers who come in for the restaurant’s popular breakfast omelets.

“We put cheese on those omelets. And when we put the cheese on, it’s really hot and bubbly and it goes right through the biodegradable stuff,’’ he said. He said he expects his costs would more than double if the state requires him to use only biodegradable cartons.

The bill by state Senator Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat, would prohibit restaurants, grocery stores, and other vendors from dispensing food in expanded polystyrene containers beginning in 2016.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/08/29/california_could_be_first_state_to_ban_foam_containers/

[Tikki]

1. Good.....

:)


The Tikkis

[Merlot]

2. They put cheese on pizza and somehow the box survives

Maybe some smart entrepreneur type will make a cardboard box for omelettes.

In the mean time, cry me a river Gary,

[RKP5637]

4. Although I understand and certainly appreciate his predicament, that's not reason to destroy

the environment, especially when a zillion others will say similar...

[DBoon]

5. He's just looking for an excuse to move to business-friendly Texas

and brag about it to his freeper friends

[BNJMN]

28. Texas certainly is winning the race...

...to the bottom.

P.S.
When they claim to have 'created' more jobs, what they really mean is they have stolen more jobs. From surrounding states. Minimum Wages laws, and the like, only work if everyone is held to the same standard. Higher is okay, but there must be a bar under which no one is allowed.

[DBoon]

32. Move to Texas today

Move to the People's Republic of China tomorrow

[boppers]

3. Paperboard handles heat just fine.

So do the walnut papers, and higher-end plastics (I haven't bought tupperware in years, as delis around here use the re-usable stuff for packaging.)

[Booster]

6. Just line the biodegradable ones with tinfoil. Jeeeesh.

[obxhead]

7. Exactly. A thin cardboard box with foil will work just fine.

He might find his customers happier with the superior product as well. I would much rather use a spork on a cardboard box than flimsy foam.

[left on green only]

18. Isn't Truth A Beautiful Thing Whenever We Can See It?

Your words should be enough to shame even the devil. But alas, the truth in this instance has very little to do with the logic that will prevail. While it is true that Mr. Honeycut's restaurant is located in the heart of California's farm country, a more accurate description of its' local might be to say that it is situated in Fresno. And Fresno is the heart of right wing, red neck, neo-fascist nazi California. Hence, to most of those living in Fresno it is Mr. Honeycut's *right* to make money in whatever fashion he chooses, irregardless of whether or not it destroys the only planet that the rest of us have to live on (money being the operative word in this sentence). If something seems wrong to you about that, then you need only ask an overwhelming majority of the people who live there, and they will set you straight. Reality, by definition, is whatever you can get away with, and Mr. Honeycut will have no trouble with the continuation of his destruction of our planet. :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[zonkers]

8. Amen. About time. Also time litter/recycling laws were more rigorously enforced.

[thelordofhell]

9. Goodbye fast Asian food industry

No more noodle bowls

[CreekDog]

12. completely wrong. I'm in San Francisco.

If you think the industry needs those containers, that's wrong.

[thelordofhell]

20. You live in San Fransisco is enough

Have you ever spent less than 5 bucks on a noodle bowl?

San Fran is the lovely place where a McDonald's owner is pricing out the homeless.

[petronius]

10. A take-out omelet? Molten-hot cheese on an omelet? Molten cheese that somehow

doesn't melt foam, but melts everything else?

All of that strikes me as very odd... :shrug:

[Ter]

11. And because of this, it will become the first state to split in two

Hello North and South California.

[CreekDog]

14. what's with the Grand Pronouncement?

If you think Socal opposes this you're wrong and to think they would split over it is so laughable that undermines your credibility on California knowledge.

[Ter]

16. Nanny-state enforcement is a disgrace to our party

If that's what makes a liberal, I want no part of it. I'm a Democrat in the spirit of Bill Clinton.

Edit: And Cali is considering splitting into two states, it was recently all over the forums and news. Here's a link, and this stupid bill would (and should) push it further):

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/government/riverside-county-supervisor-proposes-splitting-california-into-2-states-487239.html

[CreekDog]

21. nanny state is a republican talking point

:eyes:

[LanternWaste]

23. Far more often than not, it appears the definition of Nanny-Statism is merely...

Far more often than not, it appears the definition of Nanny-Statism is merely, "those laws which I personally don't like..."

[Nihil]

25. "I'm a Democrat in the spirit of Bill Clinton."

That says quite a lot that you probably didn't mean to say.
:evilgrin:

[quakerboy]

17. Was this some sort of sarcasm test?

Or did we just forget about West Virginia splitting off of Virginia?

[Ter]

19. Technically, it split from VA when it wasn't part of the US

That was 1863, when VA was no longer an American state, but part of the Confederacy. I'll give it to you though.

[quakerboy]

27. Technically, I think thats what the war was about

Whether they got to be "no longer" American states or not. And as I recall Mr Lincoln won that one. So I think it counts.

If you wanted to be a little looser, you could look at the Dakota territory splitting into N/S states. Or the Oregon Territory splitting into OR state, and then later WA.

[saras]

13. Who the hell wants to eat cheese with plastic melted into it. Those containers are AWFUL.

If his cheese is going "right through" biodegradable cardboard, it's over 500°F (250° C), and the cardboard is bursting into flames almost instantly.

Somehow I think he's bullshitting us.

[StarsInHerHair]

15. what about wax lining cardboard containers? have they even tried that?

[bengalherder]

22. They have those

They're even biodegradable. I see them alot up here in the NW.

But this particular ass is begrudging the 20 cents or something extra that they cost.


Fresno. Bet he has illegals in his kitchen.

[StarsInHerHair]

31. yeah I thought so, pretending that there is no other way....

[MBS]

24. good. I hope it happens. n/t

[Steerpike]

26. I live in Alaska

The doctor told me to do more walking. So, I've been doing long walks with the wife and kids to go to the theater and grocery store etc...Anchorage has a system of bike/multi use trails and tunnels that criss-cross the municipality. Most of it all is beautiful Vistas, flora and fauna...unfortunately there is a whole shittload of garbage littered everywhere...and plenty of it is styrofoam food containers. Walking the paths that parallel the highway are particularly filthy...people can be such pigs.

[BNJMN]

29. I feel your pain. I'm in Texas...[State Little Scorecard Map]

LINK:
http://www.greenecoservices.com/american-state-litter-scorecard-2011/




Also:

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Can't happen fast enough