Ashton Ellis
Staff Writer
If you want to do something important, stay out of local government. At least that’s what America’s city councils show citizens as they wage war on the inane in modern life.
In a move reminiscent of New York City’s ban on trans fats. Calabasas, Calif. voted recently to prohibit restaurants operating within city limits from providing Styrofoam containers to departing patrons.
Citing environmental concerns, the Calabasas City Council joined Malibu in imposing a plastic or paper-only requirement on local eateries, despite costing three times the price of the Styrofoam equivalent, according to Grocers’ Association spokesperson Jennifer Forkish.
According to one supporter, the ban is needed to protect the “nearby” pristine nature of the Pacific Ocean. One would think that between working a job, raising a family and making sure the trash is collected on time, the enlightened part-time city council would scarcely have the opportunity to consider whether a diner’s doggie bag will one day end up in the peaceful blue yonder. One would be wrong.
Tax dollars at work? Hardly.
Like most city councils, the Calabasas version suffers from a lack of things to do. Unburdened by sufficient responsibility, council members are reflecting the economic theory of Parkinson’s Law, which posits that when the amount of time exceeds the amount of work, work expands to fill the time.
Uncontent with providing taxpayers with safe streets and clean water, council members are expanding their influence to include Big Brother-style limitations on acceptable food packaging. Can it really be true that crime is so low and the tax burden so high that creating a whole new class of criminal is necessary? Local police will now be on the lookout for illicit Styrofoam users, ready and willing to issue citations to offenders.
The intent behind the ordinance is clear. The city council and its supporters want to curb the amount of litter. While admirable, the council’s remedy misses the point. The presence of slowly decomposing litter does not flow from a person’s access to Styrofoam. Rather, all litter results from either a person’s willful decision not to dispose of trash properly, or a subsequent actor’s inability to process properly disposed trash correctly. Maybe the real culprit in the ocean pollution scandal is the trash collection company that can’t seem to dispose of garbage without allowing a few wayward pieces of Styrofoam escape.
If the Calabasas City Council is really concerned about reducing litter, it should launch a citywide effort to encourage better recycling or voluntary compliance. Instead of saddling restaurant goers with the added expense of paper or plastic boxes, give a tax break to every restaurant that voluntarily makes the switch to a more expensive, yet more environmentally friendly Styrofoam alternative.
Perhaps the painfully irrelevant next step will be adding paper and plastic food containers to Calabasas’ list of banned substances. After all, if Styrofoam merits prohibition because it constantly finds its non-biodegradable ways into ocean currents, we should also ban all other synthetic materials. Fish and fowl can die just as easily from eating plastic or pulp as they can from gorging on Styrofoam. Where does this kind of micromanaged public policy lead? Perhaps Calabasas will lead the way in requiring restaurants to send customers home with leftovers safely ensconced in lettuce wraps tied together with seaweed strands.
It is not clear whether this law would apply to Styrofoam bought in a grocery store or brought into the city from a restaurant untouched by Calabasas’ regulatory scheme. Will there be roadblocks at the city’s limits to inspect revelers returning from an outing in Thousand Oaks or Agoura Hills?
For a city with such a prime location and generous tax base, it is uninspiring to see its council members miss the opportunity to do something truly meaningful to enhance the environment.
Instead of banning the use of disposable dinnerware, the council should undertake a citywide campaign to equip every home with solar power, reducing the energy public utiliry consumes . Or the council should partner with local gas stations to include an ethanol pump at every site and offer low-cost ethanol conversion devices to the first 1,000 citizen volunteers.
Prohibition is the easy and ineffective way to govern. True leadership is found in innovation. The choice is up to Calabasas.
02-22-2007