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.
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 !
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.
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...
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.
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 !
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.
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...