Advertisement

To-go boxes to go?

From coffee cups to doggie bags, most Newport Beach restaurants depend on Styrofoam to keep soup piping hot and soft drinks icy.

A proposed citywide ban on the product could leave local eateries looking for something else to serve their to-go orders in, but many restaurant owners say they are ready for a change.

“Most everyone uses it because it’s so cost effective,” said Sheri Drewry, president of the Newport Beach Restaurant Assn. “But I think everybody needs to be a lot more ecologically responsibility right now.”

Advertisement

Most local restaurant owners support the proposed ban, Drewry said.

“Nobody’s opposed — there’s no bad backlash,” she said. “The only thing is finding comparable to-go containers.”

Drewry’s family has owned the Wilma’s Patio restaurant on Balboa Island since 1975, a favorite local breakfast spot. Wilma’s uses Styrofoam to-go packaging, but is looking to make a switch independent of the proposed city ban, Drewry said.

“We’re looking at all the products right now and just need to find the right fit for us,” she said. “I’m all behind being more ecologically responsible because I want to leave this world a better place for my own daughter.”

Biodegradable and recycled products are more expensive than Styrofoam, but the cost isn’t prohibitive for most restaurants, Drewry said.

Students from teacher Scott Morlan’s surfing and environmental class at Newport Harbor High School spent most of last semester lobbying city officials for a ban on all polystyrene foam products at Newport eateries.

The non-biodegradable material winds up on local beaches, the students claim.

The students had hoped the City Council would pass an anti-Styrofoam ordinance before the end of the school year, Morlan said, but he hopes his students will return to school next year to a Styrofoam-free Newport.

The city’s Environmental Quality Affairs Committee has recommended a ban on Styrofoam at the students’ urging and the City Council could vote on the proposal as early as next month.

Laguna Beach passed a similar ban on the use of Styrofoam in restaurants in 2007.

“We’re close, and it seems like it’s actually going to go through,” Morlan said. “It’s really all due to my kids — they chased this down and did it to a point where it’s all coming to fruition. It’s gratifying to see our youth step up like this.”

The students gathered about 500 signatures from Newport Beach residents and businesses and have met with local environmental leaders and City Council members, many of whom said the support of local restaurant owners would be important in getting the ban passed.

“I think if we do it right and we look for protections for local restaurants, we can do it,” said Councilwoman Nancy Gardner. “I think most people see that plastics are an issue.”

Gardner said the city also could come up with several ways to lessen the financial impact of a Styrofoam ban like giving local eateries a year to switch to more environmentally friendly packaging.

Local restaurant owners seem open to finding alternatives to Styrofoam, said Stephanie Barger, executive director of the environmental group Earth Resource Foundation, which has worked with the Newport Harbor students on the proposed ban.

“We have not received one negative letter from the restaurant association,” Barger said. “To me, that’s evidence that it’s not that big of a deal.”

Dan Marcheano, owner of the staple Newport eatery the Arches Restaurant, said he thinks customers won’t mind paying a few cents more for food if it were packaged in environmentally friendly containers. The Arches is in the process of phasing out Styrofoam, he said.

“You should look at who’s giving you Styrofoam and think about going somewhere else, because you have products out there that are environmentally friendly — it’s a disgrace,” Marcheano said. “It will cost a little more, but I think the customers will be willing to pay.”


BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].

Advertisement