The word Styrofoam has origins in trees

What does styrofoam mean?
Styro. You'd think that's made up, right? Styrofoam is a trademark name by Dow Chemical Co. in 1950. It's based from the word polystyrene. (see polystyrene)

What does polystyrene mean?
Etymonline.com says:
1927, so called because it is a polymer of styrene (see styrene).

What does styrene mean?
In 1885, they thought it would be cool to name this hydrocarbon as Styrene, because the resin from Styrax trees have a little bit of this chemical. (see styrax)

Where does styrax come from?
It's greek for "shaft of a lance."

Next time you see someone killing our environment by using a styrofoam cup, you can let them know that the word styrofoam is based on the resin from styrax trees, but the styrofoam doesn't actually come from that resin. Instead it comes from the lovely petroleum industry.

By drinking from these cups, you actually are fullfulling the origin of the word styrax--and that's jabbing a shaft of a lance into your heart and into our planet.