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Is it biodegradable?

The term biodegradable refers to a product that can quickly and safely break down and disappear into the environment without harmful effects. If everything was biodegradable our world would be very clean.

Here are some daily products and the approximate time needed for them to break down.

Paper 2 - 5 months
String 3 - 14 months
Plastic bag 10 - 20 years
Tin cans 50 - 100 years
Aluminium cans 80 - 100 years
Glass bottles 1 million years
Plastic bottles Forever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try it for yourself

Materials

  • An apple core
  • A lettuce leaf
  • A piece of plastic wrap
  • A piece of Styrofoam
  • A piece of a thin biodegradable plastic shopping bag
  • A gardening trowel

What to do

  1. Find a spot in the garden where you are allowed to dig five holes.
  2. Dig the holes about 20cm deep and place the lettuce leaf, apple core, plastic wrap, styrofoam and biodegradable plastic each in their own hole.
  3. Fill the holes up with soil.
  4. Mark the spot where you have buried the items - you don't want to forget where they are!
  5. In a month or so dig them up again. What do you think you'll find?

Why?

Materials that are biodegradable, like the lettuce leaf and apple core, will break down and go back to the earth. They'll help other things grow by adding nutrients to the soil. But things like the plastic wrap and styrofoam don't become part of the earth again. They'll remain litter for a long time...maybe even forever!

What happened to the biodegradable plastic? Did it break down? Let us know the results of your experiment by sending an email to powerkids@westernpower.com.au and we'll publish the results in the next newsletter.