When the State that I live in, does not have ANY method for collection or recycling the styrofoam, it winds up in a land fill, better known as a dump. Since styrofoam has the half life equivalent to our Sun, I wonder how much of this stuff is produced and discarded in the USA each year? I know that in a good year, I find a way to accumulate 30-100 shippers of different sizes.
Here in the USA, styrofoam shippers come in these sizes:
1. 375 ml x 6 bottles
2. 375 ml x 12 bottles
3. 375 ml x 24 bottles (I have never owned this size but believe it exists)
4. 750 ml x 1 bottle
5. 750 ml x 2 bottles
6. 750 ml x 3 bottles
7. 750 ml x 4 bottles
8. 750 ml x 6 bottles
9. 750 ml x 12 bottles
10. 1.5 L x 1 bottle
11. 1.5 L x 2 bottles
12. 1.5 L x 3 bottles
13. 1.5 L x 6 bottles
14. 3.0 L x 1 bottles
15. 5.0 L x 1 bottles
16. 6.0 L x 1 bottles
17. 12 L x 1 bottles
Note: I certainly may have left one or more sizes off the list, regardless,
... the fact that there are at least 17 unique sizes of styrofoam that accompanies nearly every wine shipment made in America (besides OWC lots) is mind blowing. If we were to guage the American wine lovers that post on the WS, Squires', Robin Garr, FTLOP
(and who knows how many others) and figure an average 10 styro shippers worth apiece, in varying sizes ... that is a heck of a lot of styrofoam. Given every wine shipment from mailing lists to retailers to auction houses to wine clubs and so on ... Can you guess how many years at the current rate of US wine shipping it would take to fill the land mass (with styro) that today houses 40 million people in California?
