Today through my daily research and surfing, i came across a good article on biodegradability, and just exactly what is the meaning of this commonly used word. The author states several questions should be asked when trying to label a product as biodegradable. Questions such as:

• inherent biodegradability of the material?
• how long it takes for the material to actually break down?
• what exactly does the product or material break down into?

The issue that resonates with most Americans is the last factor for biodegradability which is, “the characteristics of the environment that the substance or material is in”, the author poses another question, “should a product be called biodegradable if it inherently has the ability to biodegrade, or should it only be called biodegradable if it also is commonly disposed of in a way in which it really will biodegrade? For example, should a paper grocery bag be labeled biodegradable? It will biodegrade if placed in nature, however it won’t biodegrade in a landfill because the conditions aren’t right”.

Here’s how long it takes for commonly used products to biodegrade, when they are scattered as litter:

cotton rags 1-5 months

paper 2-5 months

rope 3-14 months

orange peels 6 months

wool socks 1 to 5 years

cigarette butts 1 to 12 years

plastic coated paper milk cartons 5 years

leather shoes 25 to 40 years

nylon fabric 30 to 40 years

tin cans 50 to 100 years

aluminum cans 80 to 100 years

plastic 6-pack shower holder rings 450 years

glass bottles 1 million years

plastic bottles forever

This article does a good job of explaining the nature of where we find ourselves today, as far as the problems we are having with waste and landfills.
For an insightful read on this topic, visit the full article at World Wise. Biodegradable, Biodegradable, Ecology, Ecology, grocery_bag, landfills, landfills, plastic_bottles, Re-use, Re-use, Recycle, Recycle, Reduce, Reduce, waste, waste, world_wise