Sometimes big ideas start in small places. And this Earth Day, we salute those who are willing to make a change for the better. In Turner Valley, Alberta, [1] they officially banned styrofoam today. Sounds kind of radical, eh? Well, let's look at the reasons the town leaders would choose to do this.

From a CTV story [2]: According to the Say No to Trash website, Canadians throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups each year, and they will still be sitting in landfill sites 500 years from now. [Other sources say thousands of years; either way, well past when we'll be around to take responsibility.]

From a story in Toronto Now [3] magazine: Although there are options for recycling polysterene, most municipalities aren't willing to incur the costs or hassle:
Most municipalities had little interest in collecting the food-smeared foam that litters streets with every gust of wind (hence Toronto's new roughly $5-mil-a-year lidded bin design). Some, like Ottawa, which cancelled polystyrene and other plastic recycling in 2004, complained there just isn't a market for it.

But for the creeping skin factor, my favourite point is that if you put a hot beverage, like, say, coffee, into a styrofoam cup, every time a wee bit of styrofoam is going to leach into your coffee, which you will then drink. Blech.

So this Earth Day, we salute everyone out there who's doing something good for the big round Mother. Using energy-efficient appliances, making a point of generating less waste, taking an alternate form of transit to work (hey, I know it's hard sometimes - why not start once a week?), and many more! Simple actions matter. Visit the Suzuki Foundation's web site [4] for some great Earth Day ideas. And hug a tree. It's actually quite pleasant.