I’ve been thinking more and more about the Styrofoam my family consumes—to-go containers, coffee cups, lidded foam “kid cups.” I’m trying to reduce our consumption when we’re out by requesting drinks in paper instead of foam, ordering better so we leave less leftovers and asking that the kids be served in glass cups along with the rest of the family. Frankly, styrene—also known as polystyrene, and better known as Styrofoam—terrifies me. It takes 500+ years to degrade, dissolves into tiny bits that end up in the ocean, is rarely recyclable, and last year it was assessed as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” by the government.