Earlier this year, Calabasas banned smoking in public areas. Now the city may ban polystyrene, a material often referred to generically as Styrofoam.

Styrofoam, like Xerox and QTip, is a trademarked name.

Officials at a recent Calabasas City Council meeting discussed the creation of an ordinance similar to one in Malibu which has banned polystyrene packaging.

"The material takes decades to centuries to deteriorate," said Jennifer Voccola, Malibu environmental programs analyst. "It doesn't actually biodegrade, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, which then becomes especially a challenge when it (becomes) litter."

Polystyrene is often used as an insulation or packaging material, and it's most often used in the food service industry.

According to Voccola, the amount of polystyrene going to landfills is rising dramatically.

"There's not enough recycling going on with the plastics," Voccola said. "Polystyrene, in the plastics profile, is a high number. However, because of its low weight, it doesn't get the same attention that some of the other plastics get."

Polystyrene is recyclable, but if used for a food product, the material is no longer recyclable because it's considered contaminated, Voccola said. In effect, a significant amount of polystyrene ends up at the dump or becomes litter, another problem.

According to Voccola, polystyrene materials are very dangerous to wildlife. In litter, the material breaks into small pieces and reaches waterways. Animals ingest the pieces and quickly become full but malnourished, and can die.

In February 2005, the city of Malibu adopted an ordinance- which was later revised-to ban the use of polystyrene packaging for all prepared foods at various places. Included were restaurants, food packagers, retail centers, vendors, nonprofit food providers and takeout restaurants. The ordinance was based on laws in West Hollywood and in Portland, Ore.

"We did have a little bit of local opposition," Voccola said. "Just a couple of the businesses and some of the industry came out-the American Plastics Council had come out-to speak against it."

The opposition said that the problem wasn't polystyrene, but littering. The American Plastics Council felt that the public just needed to be educated, Voccola said.

"A lot of the public's response to that was that (Malibu has) a very high number of visitors to the area and how do you educate all of those visitors," Voccola said. The general public "felt that the ban was still the most appropriate way to go about it, but (wanted to) continue with the education as well."

The Malibu ordinance has a few exceptions to the rule. If food is packaged outside city boundaries, the product is allowed in. Businesses can sell ice coolers or any type of reusable container made out of polystyrene. Grocery stores can sell items such as eggs in the polystyrene containers because they're packaged elsewhere.

Businesses that might be affected by a changeover from polystyrene to an alternative can apply for a one-year hardship waiver from the city of Malibu. That gives a business a year to eliminate its use of the product.

The people of Malibu have generally accepted the ban, according to Voccola.

Cities such as Calabasas seem to be interested in following in Malibu's footsteps with the adoption of similar bans. Calabasas' city staff will draft an ordinance to ban the use of polystyrene. The city will also survey businesses regarding such a ban and its possible effects. Council members will use the information to inform their discussion of a ban.

All council members agreed to bring back a draft ordinance to discuss, with the exception of Calabasas Mayor Dennis Washburn.

Washburn said he preferred to do more research on the matter before taking an action that the city might not be able to afford.

"If our goal is supplanting polystyrene with another product, then that's a different issue than if we're trying to reduce the waste stream, which is, I think, ultimately what we're looking to do," Washburn said.

Those are two separate issues, the mayor said, and the council should have more information and more of a plan before jumping ahead to the stage of crafting an ordinance that the council might have to totally rework.

Councilmember Mary Sue Maurer said she had enough information from other cities with polystyrene bans to know that the product must be replaced in Calabasas.

"We have a pile of evidence here," Maurer said. "Other cities have already done the research and (found that polystyrene) is a problem."