Styrofoam containers? C'mon. In California in the 21st century? Just advertise that you don't care about the health of your customers or the environment.

The study cited in that article says it's a push, energy-wise. Given that, the manufacturing process, the leeching of styrene, particularly when used with hot liquids, the breakdown of microbeads and general mindset that permits such wastefulness is the problem. I will definitely warm people away from coffee shops that use plastic and styrofoam since there are so many others with enlightened ownership.

"You might find it surprising to learn, however, that the much-hated Styrofoam cup is not quite as bad as we thought. Yes, these cups take forever to decompose and thus take up space in landfills. But drinking your daily cup of coffee out of a Styrofoam cup uses less energy than drinking out of a ceramic cup and washing it in hot water after each use—unless your ceramic cup lasts for 1,000 uses and you wash it only after every third use." The article at https://qz.com/667908/styrofoam-cups-get-a-bad-rap-and-other-surprising-environmental-revelations/ is not particularly scientific, but it does contain a link to a scholarly article about Styrofoam that's worth reading. Cheers!