Now-a-days…we live in, what I call, “The Green Age.” More and more people are jumping on the “green” wagon and are trying to do what they can to reduce their carbon footprint. These new green-newbie’s are transitioning and unless you’re a “green-a-holic”, you may not be familiar with a lot of the “green”-words. Here at Swipes Lovin Wipes, we stand by our claims, two terms of which cause a little confusion at times! So today we’re going to break down the difference between—Biodegradable and Compostable.
Biodegradable
Let’s start off with a pretty common word…Biodegradable. Some of us learned that word in High School…well at least that’s the first time I remember hearing it. My definition of “biodegradable” was anything that is natural enough to easily degrade and become one with the earth again (without causing any issues). I’m sure I’m close but let’s look at the actual definition. According to dictionary.com, Biodegradable means:
Capable of being decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria.
Many items are biodegradable but that doesn’t make it good for the environment. Biodegradation can happen over a period of days or hundreds of years—and that makes the difference between what is “good” or “bad” for the environment. The more natural the item is the faster it will biodegrade. Essentially biodegradable products should break down into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass in a reasonable amount of time. For example an apple core will never biodegrade in a landfill but take 2 weeks in a backyard compost, a matter of days in a industrial composter, and 8 weeks in a ocean. Regular plastic cups will never biodegrade in a landfill, there’s an unknown amount of time on how long it would take in backyard compost or in an industrial composter. But we do know, plastic is very hard to breakdown, so much so, that once it’s in the ocean it goes through photodegradation (breaking down plastic into smaller pieces) and turns into a trash island for about 450 years! Now that’s a big difference!
Compostable
Compostable products are just like biodegradable products but better! When broken down, rich nutrients are released into the soil called humus, making Compostable products some of the best for the environment. The usual breakdown time for a compostable product is one to four months. These products should be able to become usable compost in a timely manner through an appropriate composting program or facility, or in a home compost pile or device. This compost can then be used for gardening and planting! No harsh chemicals or pesticides to worry about!
Swipes is proud to be both biodegradable and Compostable! Whether you flush our truly flushable wipes down the toilet or compost us in some dirt...will degrade naturally becoming one with the planet!
Check out our site to see our Eco-effects!
Special Thanks to the Chic Ecologist who helped me shed light on the effects of plastic!
Until next time...Peace, Lovin, Swipes!
