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Anela Holck/Assistant Photo Editor
Most known for its array of flavored yogurt, Malibu Yogurt recently was forced to change its signature white Styrofoam cups because of a new city ordinance.
Ordinance No. 286, adopted by Malibu’s city council
Sept. 12, banned the use of polystyrene foam under most conditions within the city limits. Under the ordinance, prepared food (served by a restaurant or a retail vendor) cannot be served in expanded polystyrene containers.
The penalty for a first-time offense against the ordinance is a $100 fine. The second offense costs $200 and the third costs $500.
Exceptions to the ordinance include prepackaged foods, such as eggs and raw meat at the grocery store, and foam ice chests.
Expanded polystyrene is sometimes called by a misnomer, Styrofoam, which is actually a trademark of Dow Jones & Co.
What may seem like the quiet passage of an obscure city ordinance has become an issue of profits and product quality for one local business owner, however.
The ordinance was a blow to business for Diana Nielsen, the owner of Pepperdine hotspot Malibu Yogurt. The business, which sells primarily ice cream and frozen yogurt, used foam cups to serve nearly all their products.
When the new statute went into effect, 30 days after its adoption, Malibu Yogurt was forced to change its packaging. Nielsen said the new cups are not conducive to serving yogurt or ice cream with toppings, and she has received complaints from customers.
“I’m unhappy with the ordinance. I spoke three times before the city council to try to have them not do this,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said she believed the city council had been misinformed about the true impact of expanded polystyrene on the environment. She said pictures from Heal the Bay cleanups had shown piles of cigarette butts but no piles of polystyrene foam.
Malibu Yogurt has been in Malibu for 19 years. Nielsen said the business has survived highway closures, extreme winter weather and many other challenges. She now counts Malibu’s policies against foam cups among the hardships her business will have to endure.
“The one who is most impacted of everyone in Malibu is me,” Nielsen said.
It is difficult to know if the change in cups has hurt business, Nielsen said, because the change in weather always signals the beginning of the slow season.
Nielsen said other business had not been forced to comply with the new statute. Ralphs is still using expanded polystyrene for their takeout soups and salads, but no action has been taken.
Mayor pro tem Ken Kearsley said the council hoped that positive examples of those complying with the ordinance would be enough, and that no negative action against businesses would have to be taken.
“It’s going to take time for the word to get out, just like with any ordinance,” he said.
Nielsen said if reports from Heal the Bay’s cleanup on Sept. 17 showed that polystyrene had not been a significant contributor to oceanic pollution, the city council would consider dropping the ordinance.
City clerk Lisa Pope said the idea that the city council would rather drop the ordinance untrue.
Kearsley confirmed that this was only a rumor, and that the ordinance was a positive step for Malibu with only minor consequences for local businesses.
“The downside (to the ordinance) is that your hands may get a little colder,” Kearsley said in references to using paper cups at Malibu Yogurt.
Polystyrene products are not biodegradable and contain a small amount of petroleum, Kearsley said.
By diminishing use of the foam, Malibu could control their use of petroleum.
Many paper cups are not biodegradable, however, and are coated in a waxy, petroleum-based substance.
Kearsley said that other alternatives, like cups made from a corn product, are also available, but Nielsen said cost makes many alternatives impractical.
Nielsen plans to write a letter in protest of the polystyrene ban, asking the city council to repeal the ordinance.
Submitted 11-10-2005
MALIBU, CA
