interesting article.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/biodegradable-trash-garbage-waste-110616.html
THE GIST
- Buying biodegradable products can ease your conscience, but they don't necessarily do much for the Earth.
- Biodegradable products can do more harm than good for the environment if they end up in landfills.
- One of the best ways to reduce your impact on the Earth is to use less and throw less away.
The findings don't necessarily mean that all biodegradables are bad. In many cases, they are in fact greener, especially if they are disposed of correctly. Buying "biodegradable" products is an easy way to reduce guilt about your impact on the Earth.
But when biodegradable trash ends up in landfills, it breaks down more quickly than ordinary garbage does, suggests a new study. The result is a more rapid release of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
Some landfills collect methane gas and convert it to energy, but many don't. And in those cases, biodegradables may actually be worse for the environment than ordinary trash -- at least at the end of a product's life -- according to the study.
The findings don't necessarily mean that all biodegradables are bad. In many cases, they are in fact greener, especially if they are disposed of correctly. The point of the study was to simply point out that biodegradables aren't always everything they're cracked up to be.
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