Lowell Sustainability Council votes to send city letter urging school, municipal ban on polystyrene

The Lowell Sustainability Council voted to send a letter to city staff urging action on polystyrene (styrofoam) food containers, asking the sustainability division and Department of Public Works to advance consideration of a ban in schools and on municipal properties and to recommend next steps toward a broader citywide ban.

Council member Ryan, a middle school English teacher and council volunteer, presented survey results from outreach to local small businesses and moved the primary motion: “Move to write a letter to Catherine, just to have her redirect to appropriate channels to advocate for, outright, ban on styrofoam in schools as well as municipal, properties and to recommend a total ban in the city and then provide, if the city is not willing to do that, some steps that would help to move toward that.” Mikaela (council member) seconded the motion and members voted in favor.

The motion follows outreach that Ryan summarized during the meeting. He said the council received nine business responses to its questionnaire. According to Ryan’s readout, most respondents were aware polystyrene is considered harmful, and only three reported current use; cost and convenience were the most frequently cited barriers to switching to alternatives. Ryan reported some responses asked the city to provide information about lower-cost alternatives or grants/discounts to reduce switching costs; one respondent wrote, “We would like the city of Lowell and advocates to stop micromanaging small businesses by mandating things that make small businesses more and more difficult.”

The council did not adopt a formal ordinance; it approved an advisory action to prepare and forward a letter. Members discussed sequencing the effort to focus first on school food services and municipal properties, and suggested gathering case studies from neighboring communities (Springfield, Lexington and others were discussed) to document cost and implementation approaches. Jay (council member) offered to raise the issue with the school committee and to seek baseline information on current school food-service contracts and substitute products.

The council also approved a related outreach step: creating a public sign-on mechanism so community organizations and residents can cosign the council’s letter before it goes to city staff. Members agreed the Google form would remain open until the council’s next meeting, after which the collected cosigners would be included with the final submission.

Because the council is an advisory body, members clarified the intended path: the sustainability division would receive the council’s letter, DPW would review it, and the DPW could forward recommendations to the city manager and other appropriate decision-makers. The motion and the survey results will be compiled and sent to Catherine (city staff, DPW/sustainability division) for follow-up.

The council framed the action as a combination of advocacy and information-gathering rather than an ordinance; discussion emphasized protecting small businesses from disproportionate cost impacts while seeking a timeline and supports that could ease a transition away from polystyrene.

Next steps: staff and volunteers will draft the letter, collect cosigners via the Google form, assemble case studies and cost information from peer municipalities, and share the draft with Catherine before the council’s next meeting.