Styrofoam Recycling

As you all know, I am a recycler. I dig recyclable items out of the garbage (at home, not in public - that would be gross!) if someone [read: Robert] places them there (because they're too lazy to put them in the recycling bin). I pick up abandoned plastic bottles in cup holders after a movie at the theater (which is, I guess, gross but people are sooooooooo wasteful. It's very distressing! I bring plastic bags and Purell so it's not like I'm manhandling other peoples' saliva-coated items on a regular basis). I save up egg cartons and big blocks of packing Styrofoam for proper disposal - your standard recycling plant won't take those bad boys, oh no*. (Packing peanuts you can drop off at any shipping outlet, like UPS... just FYI.) Anyway, Robert is forever annoyed at my refusal to dump the Styrofoam blocks in the Dumpster - they now live in the corner of my bedroom. See?

I am somewhat surprised at how small this pile is... I have a sneaking suspicion that Robert has been secretly tossing my accumulating Styrofoam in stages, much like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank...

I have searched and searched for a way to dispose of said Styrofoam and I think I've found the solution. There's a place in Union City called GB Industrial and they take block Styrofoam. You can either mail it in or drop it off (though they recommend calling first to make sure someone is actually there to accept your donation) and their info is as follows:

GB Industrial Plastic Recycling
1528 Atlantic Street
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 489-0881

There is also a place in Oakland which often accepts block Styrofoam for reuse in its shipments:

Mannequin Madness
2020 Dennison St., Ste. 15
Oakland, CA 94606
(510) 444-0650
sales@MannequinMadness.com

They also recommend calling first to see if they are currently accepting Styrofoam.

I pass this along with the hope that it will inspire one of my local friends to think twice before throwing their Styrofoam into the garbage. And hey, if you don't want to mess with it, just give it to me! Robert may not like you anymore but I will. :o)

* Although manufacturers mark block Styrofoam with a recycling symbol, the infrastructure to recycle it in the Bay Area is extremely limited.