It's hard to magine Styrofoam-free takeout.

Steaming hot coffee in a Styrofoam cup held comfortably in an unprotected hand has become an icon of convenience and caffeinating on the run. Styrofoam clamshells serve the brief but useful purpose of keeping burgers or Chinese takeout hot between the service counter and a car or a table.

But a world once again without Styrofoam - at least the food-service world - will come closer to reality if a bill introduced in the state Senate gains traction.

The bill, which applies to restaurants, food-service providers, vendors, supermarkets and state offices, would effectively ban this versatile and insulating material from food service.

"The purpose of this bill," said its sponsor, Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, "is to help New York clean up our waste stream and become a more environmentally sustainable state. We have a real problem with needlessly creating too much waste."

In New York City, where single changes can exert enormous cumulative impacts, City Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn's Park Slope introduced a similar bill in August.

This bill would ban use of polystyrene cups and takeout containers from food establishments and city agencies. The ban would apply to the Department of Education, which disposes of 153 million Styrofoam trays a year - that's 850,000 a day - and spends $5 million to do so.

Styrofoam, or more accurately polystyrene, is lightweight and cheap, and does a great job of keeping food warm. But like many technological advances, there are downsides to this product.

For one, it's made from oil, a nonrenewable resource. Leading experts agree that peak oil production globally will be reached some time before 2020; some believe that point already passed. So eventually we will need to do without, or find alternatives to, products made from this limited resource.

Public health is another. Styrene, the compound used to make polystyrene (as well as waxes, varnishes, plastics, adhesives and rubber products) occurs naturally at very low levels. Any exposure stemming from normal contact with styrene-based products is considered safe.

However, styrene is a known toxin and carcinogen. High levels of exposure, which might occur among workers at manufacturing plants, can cause various nervous system effects; personality changes, motorfunction loss, memory loss and difficulty of concentration.

Further, the United States is a world leader in styrene production and export, 13 billion pounds and 2 billion pounds a year, respectively.

Lawmakers are also respnding to environmental concerns related to polystyrene production and disposal. The cup that held the coffee you might down in 10 minutes will be around in the environment for centuries. Styrene vapor can be found in air, water and soil after it is released from the manufacture, use and disposal of polystyrene cups, shells and trays.

Then there are the unknowns. Does styrene accumulate in animals exposed at low levels for a long time? We don't know. How might styrene affect children's health? No studies have been done to evaluate this.

Well, why not just switch to paper? It has some advantages. Its starting material, wood, is a renewable resource. And paper is recyclable and biodegrades.

But paper products also often end up in landfills, and if coated with waxes or plastic, can persist for long periods.

An analysis done nearly 20 years ago comparing paper and polystyrene cups included chemical pollution of the environment (chlorinem sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid and others), electricity demands, large volumes of waste water, greenhouse gases produced during decomposition and the visible negative impacts on the landscape from logging among the ecological ills of paper products.

So, let us see this proposed ban on polystyrene in food service as an opportunity to solve the real problem, which is not the choice between paper or Styrofoam, but rather, our dependence on single-use disposable food containers.

We need new habits. How about revising our getting ready for work routine or school routine?

To the usual checklist - do I have my keys, umbrella, cell phone, iPod, jump drive? - we might want to add, do I have my travel mug? Water bottle?