Oil or Paper?

Styrofoam, is a product made from a non-renewable resource - petroleum.  It is just about impossible to recycle and usually ends-up in a landfill taking a minimum of 20 generations (500 years) to biodegrade.  Furthermore, when it inevitably breaks down into smaller pieces it can be harmful when ingested by animal life.  

 

The container featured in the photo holds leftover gnocchi - soft, Italian dumplings.  Very yummy.  After a short zap in the microwave it will become repurposed lunch the next day.  This box is manufactured of paper fiber - a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees.  In a perfect world it would be made from 100 percent recycled paper content which means that no additional trees were used to make it.  Recycled paper saves energy, landfill space and reduces pollution in the water and air.  Yet even if it is made from mixed content (new and recycled fiber) there is no getting around the fact that it happens to be a paper product.  And it bears repeating that paper is a biodegradable, renewable, sustainable product made from trees.  

 

That means that I can discard it in my compost pile.  Under optimal conditions in ten days to two weeks it would be gone.  

 

On balance is a styrofoam container a more earth-friendly choice?  Or is the paper product?  I know where I come down on the issue and I am heartened to find more and more restaurants using this choice of to-go containers.  I even made a point of telling the proprietor of the restaurant that I appreciated his thoughtfulness. 

 

It never hurts to politely reward smart choices and educate to change hearts and minds.