In Malaysia, polystyrene are mainly used for food and electronic packaging. The main reason of its usage is the solid spongy material which is really light and a bad heat conductor and really cheap.
However currently people are encouraged to not use it because it is not biodegradable. But no one denies that this thing is one of the most creative invention in the world. I actually really like it too.
This applies to plastic bags too. Really user friendly, durable, waterproof, light.. what else? Again the same thing, has many functions but its not biodegradable.
But currently, there are plastic bags made from starch which can biodegrade easier when they end up in the land fill but people start to question the use of these edible materials for plastic bags. The question is, do you feel it's reasonable to use food to make plastics bags when we don't have enough food to feed the poor children in our own nation and the third world countries? Is it right?
So one way is used to reduced the production of polystyrene and plastic bags - reduce the usage.
Yes, it is possible if everyone can reduce the usage, replacing them with paper bags etc. But it is important to remember most of us are not financially stable. We don;t have trees that grows money for us. In our food courts, many food sellers they prefer polystyrene packaging because it is cheaper.
So maybe I thought, yes we should reduce the usage, however at the same time we should also think of ways how to make these things biodegradable. Rather than just completely cut the usage of these things. We shouldn't show hatred towards it, but think of ways to make it a better product because we all love plastic bags and polystyrene box. It so light, cheap and fluffy!
