Pacific Grove CA bans polystyrene packaging used in restaurant and food packaging services in the city.

Pacific Grove, California, the city in Monterrey County famous for its breathtaking sceneries and for a renowned literary great who lived there, has joined the ranks of other US cities in banning polystyrene used in the restaurant and food packaging services in the city.

Polystyrene or PS (plastic recycling symbol no.6) is used widely to make disposable plates, cups, food and meat trays, among other products. Environmentalists have long warned against the use of polystyrene in food packaging because of its potential to leach toxins into food and the difficulty of recycling this plastic material.

According to Kevin Howe of the Monterrey County Herald the City Council voted unanimously on the ban:

The ordinance applies to one-time-use containers and utensils provided by restaurants for takeout, including food served for immediate consumption by supermarkets, but doesn’t apply to food or merchandise packaging. The ordinance says the city “shall promote and encourage, on a voluntary basis, the elimination of all polystyrene foam packaging.”

It goes into effect in 30 days, and restaurants will have a 180-day grace period to use up their stocks of plastic utensils and polystyrene containers before switching to biodegradeable products.

Read the full Monterrey County Herald article here.

Pacific Grove was home to American literary great John Steinbeck (1902-1968), author of such masterpieces as The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and Of Mice and Men (1937). Steinbeck lived for many years and accomplished many of his masterpieces in a cottage in Pacific Grove. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 for “…his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.”

Sources:

• Monterrey-Carmel.com: For the Pacific Grove Coastal Scene Image
• 99530.com – John Steinbeck’s Pacific Grove: Bust and Image of John Steinbeck by Jesse Corsaut