The Nitty Gritty on the Gables Styrofoam Ban

Full disclosure: I eat a lot of Chicken Kitchen. It is a stone’s throw from my office, they deliver very quickly, it is relatively healthy, and I love curry mustard. So yes, I eat it a lot. I’ve noticed that from last week to this one, they have changed the packaging in which they provide their Chop Chop. Because my local Chicken Kitchen is located in Coral Gables, the restaurant has been banned from using Styrofoam containers and is now utilizing plastic ones instead.

The Styrofoam ban in Coral Gables has been a long time coming. The idea was proposed in 2015, with the intention of banning the use of expanded polystyrene for take-out containers, by city vendors, and at events. The bill was passed in February of 2016; however, it hit a snag in July of 2016 when the Florida Retail Federation filed a lawsuit to keep the city from enforcing the ban. You see, the Florida Legislature also passed a bill in February of last year. This bill prevented local municipalities from creating their own Styrofoam bans unless such bans where in force prior to January 1, 2016. Unfortunately, Coral Gables did not have its ban in place in time, so the city attempted to backdate its anti-Styrofoam bill. That brings us back to the Florida Retail Federation – they did not like this backdating, citing it as unfair, so they brought their lawsuit against the Gables. Long story short, the courts upheld the City Beautiful’s expanded polystyrene ban, and now my Chicken Kitchen arrives in recyclable plastic containers! That’s a win for Coral Gables and a win for our landfills!

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