Imagine dropping 150 forks of slightly varying sizes onto a red-and-white checked table cloth. Only one has a small nick on the back of the handle. Your challenge is to identify that fork within 30 seconds.

That was approximately the test for the City Council last evening – considering a ban on food-related Styrofoam pieces for purposes of cleaning up the cluttered environment.

The Council only sort of accomplished its objective.

By a 4-1 vote, they dispatched responsibility for formulating an ordinance to the Council’s two-person Sustainability Committee.

Mayor Jim Clarke said he expects members Meghan Sahli-Wells and Goran Eriksson to meet in September and return to the Council in October with a workable plan.

Easier speculated than achieved?

It looked that way when Ms. Sahli-Wells openly announced before a heavily pro-ban crowd that she and Mr. Eriksson have significant differences about carving a path to an outcome.

Mr. Clarke was not quite wringing his hands when he acknowledged that more than 90 California communities have enacted a wide assortment of full and partial Styrofoam bans.

Which strategy will be most desirable, most effective in a community that likely is broadly supportive of a ban – with nuances?

“That is up to the committee,” said Mr. Clarke. “They will choose from the assortment of models and reach agreement.”

Both Mr. Eriksson and Ms. Sahli-Wells are committed environmentalists, though they
have taken different routes to their convictions – Mr. Eriksson via business and Ms. Sahli-Wells as an activist/legislator.