First in a series. 

A young businesswoman, bearing a satchel of unusual props, strode into the small room to start educating her audience on the properties and presumed proprieties of polystyrene.

With one strong foot in the universe of scholarly environmentalism and the other in commerce, the woman who preferred not to be identified, seemed well qualified.

She spread seven samples – one for each form of polystyrene — on a nearby desk.

They ranged from a standard 6-ounce polystyrene cup to a familiar clear plastic salad container from Ralphs.

“Here is the issue,” the woman said. “If you ban all of these, what do you replace them with?

“What are the replacements?

“Are they any better?” she asked — and that is the jackpot challenge that the City Council presently is wrestling with.