So, I was reading our local paper, The Oregonian and took great interest in an article titled “Biodegradable Hype is Misleading Rubbish” written by reporter Shelby Wood . Ok, so the title was in itself provocative enough to catch my eye as my family and I strive to become just a little bit greener everyday.
Doesn’t “biodegradable” denote something good and green? Well, after reading this article it does mean this but if not taken to the next level it means nothing and as Shelby states we’re still on the hook to make this happen. The ironic thing is that the biodegradable stuff that we end up throwing in the trash just sits in our landfill making a big heaping pile of junk. It doesn’t just magically biodegrade on its own!
What surprised me was that Portland which I believe is one of the greenest states in the country doesn’t even have a composting facility. When something is biodegradable it means it will biodegrade only if you are able to either compost it yourself or take it to a large composting facility who will do it for you. This was an ah-ha moment for me! On the positive end I found out Seattle is starting to take compostable food scraps curbside so maybe Portland will jump on that bandwagon soon.
For grins, I looked up the Wikepedia definition of biodegradable which states: Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which may be broken down by other living organisms. So, based on this definition if we as “living organisms” on this planet take a little time just to figure out how we can actually take the next steps to help make sure biodegradable items actually biodegrade I think we can make a big difference. Easier said than done, right? Have you embraced the challenge of composting anything in your backyard yet? Would love to hear your stories!
Of course, something needs to be done for those things to actually biodegrade. Although people market it as something that’s great for the environment, they don’t just biodegrade for no good reason. When you think about it, you’ve never heard someone went on a trip for a month, only coming back to realize that all his biodegradable plastic bags are rotting in the house. Now that would be more magic-like!
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