Students dining in the residence halls should not mistake their takeout containers for Styrofoam.

While the takeout containers may be similar to Styrofoam in color and weight, they are made of styrene, a much more environmentally-safe product.

Residential dining has been using styrene for about 10 years. Before, there was no takeout option in the dining halls, said Ralph Chaplin, director of residential dining.

This type of container was selected because it is the best product that fits the needs of dining services, said central store manager Linda Larsen. All dining units place orders through the central store.

For the month of October, Larsen ordered 800 cases of containers for the central store to meet the needs of the dining units. However, this number can vary from month to month. Each case costs $12.73 for the dining halls and contains 200 containers, equaling six cents per container.

Styrofoam containers are so uncommonly used that they are difficult to find. Many major manufacturing companies of disposable containers, such as Dart Container Corporation, Solo Cup Company and Newspring Packaging, don’t offer them.

Styrene is a chemical used to make polystyrene, a sturdy, lightweight material that guards against leaks, keeps foods at appropriate temperatures and will not melt or warp in shape when put in contact with food, according to the Polystyrene Packaging Council.

In addition to its effectiveness in food transportation, it is also more environmentally friendly than Styrofoam or paper.

According to the Municipal Solid Waste in the United States 1999 Facts and Figures, only about .6 percent of waste is polystyrene packaging, which includes not only food packaging but protective packaging as well.

Quality and environment are important factors in the choices residential dining makes when selecting products.

“Everything that we use, we try and make sure will not be going into disposals, and we do look for some environmentally-safe options to meet the needs of customers in the dining halls,” Larsen said.

Students generally agree with the use of these environmentally-safe products.

“I think it’s very important that we use environmentally-friendly containers in the dining halls because so many people use them daily,” said Tanisha Williams, a junior political science major. “If they weren’t environmentally friendly, it could have severe consequences.”