So Long, Styrofoam

Ocean PlasticsBy Conrad MacKerron, Senior Vice President

As You Sow’s Waste program is on a mission to phase out polystyrene and its toxic impact on the world’s oceans — and we are getting big companies to step up to the plate. Polystyrene doesn’t degrade, it just disintegrates into smaller and smaller fragments, circling endlessly in the ocean. In February, we asked Amazon, McDonald’s, Target, and Walmart to stop using foam as a packing material. Back in 2013, we were instrumental in getting McDonald’s to stop using foam coffee cups in its 14,000 U.S. stores, but the company is still using foam in foreign markets — now we are pressing the company to take its foam cup ban global. April brought us great news, as Target agreed to engage its corporate peers on phasing out polystyrene foam packaging in online operations. We’re targeting McDonald’s too — back in 2013, we were instrumental in getting McDonald’s to stop using foam coffee cups in its 14,000 U.S. stores, but the company still uses foam overseas. Now we’re pressing the company to take its foam ban global, and at their May meeting, nearly a third of shareholders agreed!