This is great. We've had a real problem in our community compost program with people dropping their compost into the tumblers inside those green "compostable" bags. Not only is there no way the bags are going to break down inside a tumbler, they also keep the food scraps inside from mixing with the rest of the compost and create an anaerobic environment. It's so hard to educate people away from "green" convenience.
We have the same problem at the community compost I run - it is REALLY hard to educate people, oof. It feels like new people, every day, are shocked to discover their compostable items can't be composted. :(
thanks for the article. Please note PLA is not the end all be all in bio plastics. Did you know they make straws and soon poly bags out of kelp seaweed which breaks down easily in a compost file- home or industrial scale. So before we throw the baby out with the bathwater let's keep an open mind on better options for compostable packaging. Note I wrote the book Backyard Composting in 1991 and our team helped 25K learn about composting in LA & Ventura County back in the 1990's. Rot is hot again !
Yes! I am very aware - you know, when I originally drafted this I had a whole section about 'the future of bioplastics' and innovations in the field - but I removed it because I was worried it was too complicated, when the point I was trying to make was that (no matter how stuff is made) we should buy less. I should prob dedicate a future issue to this. Def not saying we should throw any babies out with bathwater.
thanks and yes compostable ocean based plastics offer a positive way to eliminate plastics and trash. If you want to learn more feel free to reach out via johnroulac.com. I am working on a new CPG brand that will possibly feature kelp compostable plastic.
The way to deal with dog waste is to stick a piece of newspaper under the dog when s/he is about to go and just wrap up the results. Keeps the ground clean and avoids plastics altogether.
Cass, thank you for this brilliant explanation. Honest question (and sorry if this should be obvious): I’m puzzled that you’d recommend upcycled plastic over these ‘compostable’ products. Is that because they have less deleterious environmental impact in their production?
Even tho these ‘compostable’ products take too long to compost in ways that work for municipal systems, they do ultimately compost, while plastic does not - and upcycling plastic risks extending or adding value to plastics. No?
Thank you for any added insights on this if you get a chance.
Hi! Thanks for all your thoughtful engagement and reading all my posts!
My recommendation is that *if your compostable products are just going to end up in a landfill* (because you are throwing them in the garbage, which a lot of people do - particularly with dog poop bags) - upcycled plastic is the better option. If you are going to properly compost your compostable items, by all means - go for 'em!
This also played out in Denver over the past year. First we were offered free composting (instead of paying a small monthly fee) then we were told that much of what we have been putting in the green bin, like dirty paper towels and compostable plates and cups, could not go in.
Dang, this is disappointing to learn (but also, thank you for sharing this!). I had been so excited when we found BioBags, which say the bags (well, the type we got) are also home compostable, making it easier for us take our compostables out. Obviously I don't want to just waste what we already bought, but are you saying these won't actually break down? We're still really new to using our compost bin (it's the kind that is open on bottom/has direct contact with the soil, since we don't have a lot of space to use), and it's winter in Wisconsin, so it's been hard to tell if we're "doing it right" yet, but now I'm nervous all these bags aren't actually going to break down fully in time...
Try them out and see! Some home compostable items actually are, for sure. They just take forever to break down. Just shred em up a bunch before you put them in the pile and that will help, for whenever the weather warms back up again. When do you the compost by? The spring? If you need your compost on a timeline, I would (for now) create a separate pile for the bags, otherwise they probably wont be broken down in time (you're right!)
Thank you for talking me out of this panic, I definitely read this and spiraled a bit! I think it's so easy to feel like we have to do everything "perfectly," and I'm still working on pushing past that. But this is all super helpful to know! We actually don't have a specific plan for the compost yet, although it'd be nice to use it in our garden eventually, once we start actually gardening. We mostly started just to reduce the amount of waste we were throwing into the trash, so thankfully there is no real "deadline" as we figure this out. Putting it into that perspective especially, I could breathe a sigh of relief. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens! I appreciate your expertise!
Ha oh nooo! I didn't mean to make you panic - I'm glad we chatted, then! We definitely put so much pressure on ourselves to be so perfect about so many things, compost is the ONE place in life where it is genuinely okay to "mess up" - nothing has to be perfect!! It's kind of a huge relief, haha. You can definitely breathe a sigh of relief. Your pile has time to figure itself out and the bags etc will eventually break down <3 Just keep an eye on em !!!
For sure, definitely not something you did and totally my own internalized sense of "gotta do it perfect, and mistakes are CATASTROPHIC" when they're just...not even close to that! haha I appreciate that! I look forward to seeing how things go, it's a fun "experiment" to keep an eye on and gives us a reason to get outside more anyway, so it's really a win no matter what! :) Thank you!!!
This is great. We've had a real problem in our community compost program with people dropping their compost into the tumblers inside those green "compostable" bags. Not only is there no way the bags are going to break down inside a tumbler, they also keep the food scraps inside from mixing with the rest of the compost and create an anaerobic environment. It's so hard to educate people away from "green" convenience.
We have the same problem at the community compost I run - it is REALLY hard to educate people, oof. It feels like new people, every day, are shocked to discover their compostable items can't be composted. :(
thanks for the article. Please note PLA is not the end all be all in bio plastics. Did you know they make straws and soon poly bags out of kelp seaweed which breaks down easily in a compost file- home or industrial scale. So before we throw the baby out with the bathwater let's keep an open mind on better options for compostable packaging. Note I wrote the book Backyard Composting in 1991 and our team helped 25K learn about composting in LA & Ventura County back in the 1990's. Rot is hot again !
Yes! I am very aware - you know, when I originally drafted this I had a whole section about 'the future of bioplastics' and innovations in the field - but I removed it because I was worried it was too complicated, when the point I was trying to make was that (no matter how stuff is made) we should buy less. I should prob dedicate a future issue to this. Def not saying we should throw any babies out with bathwater.
Also amazing about the book!
thanks and yes compostable ocean based plastics offer a positive way to eliminate plastics and trash. If you want to learn more feel free to reach out via johnroulac.com. I am working on a new CPG brand that will possibly feature kelp compostable plastic.
A post on the future of bioplastics would be amazing.
I'll work on one!
The way to deal with dog waste is to stick a piece of newspaper under the dog when s/he is about to go and just wrap up the results. Keeps the ground clean and avoids plastics altogether.
Yes, anything that involves REUSING stuff vs buying new stuff = EXCELLENT. haha.
Cass, thank you for this brilliant explanation. Honest question (and sorry if this should be obvious): I’m puzzled that you’d recommend upcycled plastic over these ‘compostable’ products. Is that because they have less deleterious environmental impact in their production?
Even tho these ‘compostable’ products take too long to compost in ways that work for municipal systems, they do ultimately compost, while plastic does not - and upcycling plastic risks extending or adding value to plastics. No?
Thank you for any added insights on this if you get a chance.
Hi! Thanks for all your thoughtful engagement and reading all my posts!
My recommendation is that *if your compostable products are just going to end up in a landfill* (because you are throwing them in the garbage, which a lot of people do - particularly with dog poop bags) - upcycled plastic is the better option. If you are going to properly compost your compostable items, by all means - go for 'em!
This also played out in Denver over the past year. First we were offered free composting (instead of paying a small monthly fee) then we were told that much of what we have been putting in the green bin, like dirty paper towels and compostable plates and cups, could not go in.
Dang, this is disappointing to learn (but also, thank you for sharing this!). I had been so excited when we found BioBags, which say the bags (well, the type we got) are also home compostable, making it easier for us take our compostables out. Obviously I don't want to just waste what we already bought, but are you saying these won't actually break down? We're still really new to using our compost bin (it's the kind that is open on bottom/has direct contact with the soil, since we don't have a lot of space to use), and it's winter in Wisconsin, so it's been hard to tell if we're "doing it right" yet, but now I'm nervous all these bags aren't actually going to break down fully in time...
Try them out and see! Some home compostable items actually are, for sure. They just take forever to break down. Just shred em up a bunch before you put them in the pile and that will help, for whenever the weather warms back up again. When do you the compost by? The spring? If you need your compost on a timeline, I would (for now) create a separate pile for the bags, otherwise they probably wont be broken down in time (you're right!)
Thank you for talking me out of this panic, I definitely read this and spiraled a bit! I think it's so easy to feel like we have to do everything "perfectly," and I'm still working on pushing past that. But this is all super helpful to know! We actually don't have a specific plan for the compost yet, although it'd be nice to use it in our garden eventually, once we start actually gardening. We mostly started just to reduce the amount of waste we were throwing into the trash, so thankfully there is no real "deadline" as we figure this out. Putting it into that perspective especially, I could breathe a sigh of relief. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens! I appreciate your expertise!
Ha oh nooo! I didn't mean to make you panic - I'm glad we chatted, then! We definitely put so much pressure on ourselves to be so perfect about so many things, compost is the ONE place in life where it is genuinely okay to "mess up" - nothing has to be perfect!! It's kind of a huge relief, haha. You can definitely breathe a sigh of relief. Your pile has time to figure itself out and the bags etc will eventually break down <3 Just keep an eye on em !!!
For sure, definitely not something you did and totally my own internalized sense of "gotta do it perfect, and mistakes are CATASTROPHIC" when they're just...not even close to that! haha I appreciate that! I look forward to seeing how things go, it's a fun "experiment" to keep an eye on and gives us a reason to get outside more anyway, so it's really a win no matter what! :) Thank you!!!
You are definitely not alone with that internal narrator, though! It plagues many of us and it comes out in compost, often. <3
Woohoo! Gooood luck! You and your compost are gonna be great