The Women’s City Club of New York 307
Seventh Avenue, Suite 1403
New York, NY 10001
212.353.8070
info@wccny.org
Testimony before the New York City Council
Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management
Letitia James, Chair
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this very important issue “Packaging
Reduction: Production and Design”. My name is Arden Down, and I am the Chair
of the Environment & Infrastructure Committee of the Women's City Club of New York.
The Women's City Club, or WCC, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, multi-issue organization
that has been working since 1915 to shape public policy to improve the lives of New
Yorkers. One of our many key objectives is to ensure sustainable development for
New York City.
The WCC has strongly supported the expansion of recycling and thanks the Council
for the enactment of the recent law you passed. WCC also urges enactment of a law
requiring that materials used in food production, storage, and delivery containers
be recyclable or biodegradable. In this city where everyone is on the go and in a rush
many containers are still made of Styrofoam. Made from oil, polystyrene foam is nonrenewable, non-biodegradable, and non-recyclable. Polystyrene foam food service
ware ends up in landfills, waterways or the ocean. It can break into pieces, which are
often mistaken for food and ingested by marine animals, birds, and fish. Medical
studies suggest that chemicals in polystyrene foam can cause cancer and can leach
into food or drinks.
850,000 Styrofoam school lunch trays are discarded daily. The food in our public
schools is served on the Styrofoam trays allowing chemicals to leach into the food
eaten daily by our children. Requiring that take-out containers and school lunch trays
be made of recyclable material would directly decrease the amount of dangerous
chemicals we and our children ingest.
In conclusion, the Women's City Club of New York urges the Council to pass
legislation that all Styrofoam used in food packaging and delivery including take-out
containers and school lunch trays be made of recyclable materials. The passage of
this legislation will be an important step toward a sustainable future in which waste
material is minimized and the health of our citizens is more stringently protected.
Thank you.