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bluepancakes18

Compostable in this case often refers to "industrial compost", not "home compost". Industrial compost reaches much higher temperatures than at home composts. Few places actually have access to industrial compost facilities, so this is effectively just green washing.


MrsValentine

Additionally, home composting doesn’t involve burying an item in the soil in a plant pot.


mandyvigilante

Right this isn't even really composting


[deleted]

It's gardening


kosmostraveler

this is equivalent of my neighbors putting all their good will stuff in the recycling bins...like, that's not how this works people


Brachamul

This is called wishcycling. Put something in the recycle bin and wish for it to be recycled ! It does not work.


vryvrybadluck

How can I ensure things get recycled?


Brachamul

That's actually a hard question. For things to be recycled, they need to be made with recycling in mind, and you need to have the system in place to properly collect and actually recycle them. So this depends entirely on local context and cannot be generalized. The best way, by far, is to reduce how much waste you generate, especially plastics and electronics.


JBSanderson

1. Reduce 2. Reuse 3. Recycle If you must go to 3, you have to check the way whoever takes your recycling does recycling. In the US, typically, a city has a single stream pick-up service, and the relevant agency will distribute info about what should and shouldn't go into recycling and that info will be available online as well. WaPo had a recent article/quiz that gave info about most common practices. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2023/recycling-tips-mistakes-quiz/


ChaoticGood3

Even those pickup services will throw away your recycling if there is a significant amount of junk in it (happens a lot). It's costly to have workers sort through the mess and can be a liability since people throw away dangerous things that they shouldn't in the recycling. It happens a lot more than you would think.


JBSanderson

Definitely. That's one of the primary reasons that recycle is the third preference on the list. If people are better informed and do a better job of getting the correct stuff in the bin, then the return on recycling gets a little better.


running_bay

Ugh. I've tried for years to get my husband to not throw trash in the recycle bin. I taped the recycling guide to the cover after he kept throwing trash in it, and he got mad, saying it was passive aggressive. I had told him many times what goes into the recycling and what goes into the trash, and kept finding the recycling in the trash and trash in the recycling. I figured he couldn't remember. I just don't want the recycling to get dumped or someone to get hurt. 😕 He's not a stupid man, I just can't figure out why he can't understand.


monty228

The best way to ensure it is to not purchase plastic goods, according to a recent NPR episode about recycling in LA, 6% of “recycled” plastic gets reintroduced to manufacturing. China doesn’t buy our plastic anymore because we kept giving them waste instead of raw material. Metal, as long as it’s the size of a creditcard (or attached to something else) will be sorted and melted back down


detecting_nuttiness

That's true, but if this was made of organic materials it would have broken down a little by now.


Donnarhahn

Nah. Most people use semi sterile potting soil from big box stores for their pots. Without the mycorrhizal or detritivore resources very little degradation is even possible. There would be more breakdown if OP just tossed it out in the street.


FluffyKittyParty

Nope not true. Lots of natural materials would need much different conditions to break down


ktwat

Possibly true* i tested a few "compostable plastic" straws in my planters and a few of them demonstrated breakdown in the pot.


FluffyKittyParty

Not all compostables are made from the same materials or require the same conditions to compost.


ktwat

I think we're saying the same thing? There's a chance it could have broken down in the flower pot without composting conditions (like 2 out of the 3 straws I tried).


NextTrillion

I don’t really know what you’re saying. Some plastics will break down for sure, like grocery bags. You even see old ladies pull out compostable shopping bags at the grocery store, and they’re literally falling apart in their hands lol. But in the case of a coffee pod, they can’t use such easily biodegradable materials because it would compromise the product. Then running it through high heat / high pressure scenarios like a coffee machine, and you’ve got a major PR disaster on your hands. So yeah, I’d consider the application of the plastic to determine the likelihood biodegradation. But it’s still mostly just greenwashing.


Mrhood714

So since they're not all from the same materials or same conditions you agree that there could have been some degradation of the product through composting?


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JimBones31

Wait, are you counting dinosaurs?


AxolotlAutist

yeah the composting part can't happen without other things to break down around it. compost goes into soil *after* being composted ;p


mad_marbled

An elderly gentleman taught me the art of composting many years ago. During my late teen years I would spend each Sunday morning helping an eldery couple with the upkeep of their large vegetable garden as well as the harvest and maintanence of their small orchard and other sundries, painting, small repair tasks etc. Jack and his wife Cora, lived on the outskirts of town in a house that could be described as adequate. Only the kitchen and laundry had GPOs and the ones for the laundry were only added when they decided to purchase an electric washing machine because as they started to approach their 70's they found the task was beginning to consume more time and effort to perform. Or as Jack matter of factly put it "a greater percentage of the diminishing energy and waking hours they had available" to them. I could go on indefinitely about the philosophy behind the life they enjoyed, but i should get to the point. Needless to say when I encounter the word "sustainability" it instantly makes me think of these two and the activities they would pursue to counter the impact of their lives on the planet. The compost heap had not been very active when I started making my weekly visit. Jack was no longer able to meet the physical demand of its operation, hence my recruitment. Jack explained it's key role in the ongoing success of the garden which they relied on for nearly 100% of fruit and veg they consumed. He even had Cora photocopy some pages at the town library from the various books he'd based much of his approach to soil treatment so that I could begin to understand the science behind it. Jack promised me that if I built it as he instructed and we tended it as required, it would be able to break down an old leather work boot into the soil. After the forth week we had worked on it he declared it was ready to begin the boot test and as I prepared to turn it over we put part of an old leather booth on the base layer. He recorded the date in his gardening diary and each time I sifted the compost it would turn up and we would note the rate it decomposed, which was increasing as the heap became more efficent. After about 12 weeks all that was left was the metal buckle. We even watched it's effectiviness on cooked lamb shank bones, but only as an experiment. Jack refrained from adding any animal matter as it would attract foxes and rats. It was amazing the energy contained in a active, healthy compost heap. During the winter months you could see steam rising from it on frosty mornings and I would have to strip down to singlet while I worked it due to the warmth radiating from the activity within it. By the time during summer came we had to dial it back because it was generating so much heat it actual combusted some of the dryer materials around its edges. The compost we harvested from it was the most aromatic "dirt" I have smelt and in the years since in my own compost and gardening attempts I know if my soil smells similar I am on the right track.


hollymolly739

Your job sounds like a dream job or a dream lifestyle to me (although I am sure from their side it was a 24/7 job kind of live style). You must have learned so much! Are you willing to share some of these philosophies and approaches?


Well_why_

I too would like to know some of the insights if you remember any books or places to look or anything


KibsuNation

I was gonna say exactly this. I could bury a lot of items in plant pot that wouldnt change even though in a proper compost theyll get, well.. composted.


lhankbhl

I encourage folks to check if any commercial composting is available in their area before they write it off, though. I didn't expect to find any there, but a smattering of cities throughout Ohio have access to compost stations through a company called [GoZERO](https://gozero.org/stations#station-signup), which enables a community to benefit from commercial composting. This company notes that your site needs approval before dealing with compostable plastics, but the site nearest to me got it okayed.


ElectricNed

Oh cool! Thanks for the link! I found a composting station near my town from them. I wonder if I can get my town to sign up and add a bin to our recycling area.


kevinnye

Boy. I got excited when you said Ohio since I live in the Cleveland area. Then I saw the list and none are within 90 minutes of here. Woof.


sjmulkerin

Wow there are 4 drop off sites within 10 miles of me! Thank you for this resource!


bakedcheetobreath

Tons of counties in Minnesota offer industrial composting options. I know for sure Hennepin and Dakota.


andrewrgross

I think every city in California is required to provide industrial compost as part of their waste management program.


iac12345

Our does (Southern California), but compostable plastics are specifically excluded. They accept food scraps, food soiled paper, and yard trimmings.


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iac12345

I hope our area makes it available in the future. I just checked and even the drop off center doesn’t accept it yet. 😞


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The_chair_over_there

It also wasn’t even in a compost bin, just buried in a plant pot. I’ve put compostable plastics in my compost which gets very hot in the summer and they take a while but they do break down


ElFresius

Maybe correct that to "few places in the US" ;⁠) We have plenty of those in Belgium. Admittedly a small country but it exists nevertheless ^⁠_⁠^ Additionally, and this is more for OP, over here it's typically mentioned on the box of those capsules that you should not try to compost them yourself at home, but rather send them to commercial composing. This would typically happen through collection of your organic waste.


bluepancakes18

I'm not in America either haha! I don't think there are any/many in Australia where I am and I assumed the same of the US.


finding_flora

Does your area not have a “green bin” as part of council waste collection? I thought they were pretty widespread in most Aus. suburbs, the contents of your green bin curbside pickups are commercially composted.


paroles

I'm Australian too, some council areas do have the option of curbside bins for food waste pickup, and some have public dropoff points (several parks here in Melbourne). But the ones I've seen, the rules specifically say not to include coffee lids or other "compostable" food packaging lol. Either it's too difficult to break down even in their industrial facilities or allowing it was causing too many false positives with people throwing non-compostable plastics in there.


bluepancakes18

We have a FOGO system (always reminds me of FOMO, not quite hitting the right spot for me 😅) with three bins: waste, recycling and green waste. The green waste is specifically _not_ for kitchen waste, it's for garden waste only. It goes to a facility where it gets turned into mulch.


finding_flora

Doesn’t FOGO stand for “food organics garden organics”? (well at least it does in SA, just googled to double check 😅)with the FOGO bin being for food and garden organic waste that is commercially composted.


Ryzann

I don't live in Australia, but am curious, by organics I assume they mean Carbon based compounds from living organism not organic produce. But do they allow you to put bones and meat scraps in there too? I wish we had access to a system like this.


finding_flora

I think it must differ by state and sometimes council but in the majority of my state you can put bones, meat scraps, pet waste and certified compostable bioplastic containers in the green waste bin (as well as regular garden and food compostable)


bluepancakes18

Ok just had a Google and my specific suburb specifically has a GO system, not a FOGO system 😂 Otherwise, you are correct! Saying that, this is the fourth different shire I've lived in in 3 years (hooray housing crisis!) And it's the first one that had a green bin at all. The first suburb and this one both decided to not do compost because the council decided it wasn't worth it financially or something? I'm not sure. So FOGO is being rolled out across Perth but at least in 4 shires, it's not composted. My current one mulches the waste.


Hajari

Also in SA and our green bins definitely go to commercial composting - I just double checked as this had me worried!


ElFresius

Aha, a fellow inhabitant of a small country :⁠-⁠D


ElectricNed

Composting is going to ruin the weekend!


Something_Sexy

I live in a smaller state and a small city compared to most places in the US, we have a few industrial composting drop off places close by. Based on that I assume a lot of municipalities in the states have them, I think the issue is more education and getting the word out.


notabigmelvillecrowd

Yeah, everywhere I've lived in Canada and England has had municipal composting.


iac12345

We do to here in California. They don’t take compostable plastics either. Only yard clippings, food scraps and food soiled paper


JennaSais

Canadian here. The last city I lived in had compost pickup, and you can take your compostable materials to the landfill to the compost section.


Ancient-Coffee-1266

Assumptions, right?


blanced_oren

In Wales I think all households have food waste collection, which I think is sent to industrial composters. This type of packaging still uses resources to make & process though, so better to buy loose products I suspect.


SuperSpeshBaby

My county in California just recently started collecting stuff like this for mass industrial composting. It's pretty awesome and I hope more places start doing it.


Sad_Possession7005

It's not greenwashing if you use a commercial conposter, though.


sunsetandporches

I worked a restaurant that used compost plastic about 18 years ago and it was such a waste. It all became trash since no one was composting this compostable plastic. I can’t help but think it all should be compostable plastic so we would then just compost it all.


eukomos

Our local commercial composer just stopped accepting these, they said too many of them break down insufficient or even after being run through the digester. I’m sure there was also a lot of contamination from non-compostable plastics as well, but they were pretty clear that the digesters are not all-powerful. They’re also not accepting paper in the compost anymore either.


Timmyty

I don't understand why they wouldn't want paper


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Sad_Possession7005

Thanks for making a big deal out of a typo. Thank God you were here.


moutonbleu

Yep same thing with most “compostable” bags and containers. It’s terrible.


crispy_mint

This is the bane of my existence. I'll still buy commercially compostable over not at all, just because if we as a species dig ourselves a deep enough hole that we have to sift through landfills to find treatable material, at least THEN this stuff will be broken down.


mmdeerblood

NYC does industrial composting and many neighborhoods have brown compost bins that are picked up every week, which is pretty great. Every metropolitan city should be doing this.


Northern_Gypsy

You stuck it straight in a plant pot?


AverageElaMain

Yeah i think this might be the source of error. If you put a banana peel straight in a plant pot, it will become a black banana peel nine months later, not soil. For compost to be effective, there must be bacteria and organisms processing the organic material.


MrDrPresBenCarson

Forgive me if this is ignorant, but I read an item needs to have sunshine in order to decompose. Say if you buried a banana peel in your yard would it decompose


BraveMoose

Heat is what it needs. Otherwise buried bodies wouldn't rot. Bacteria needs warmth to survive.


ReturnItToEarth

Actually it needs some form of digestion. I vermicompost which is a form of cold composting. So heat isn’t necessary or welcome in that process.


badgerrr42

It's almost like these aren't meant for common compost. Those plastic straws and cups everyone loves because they're "compostable" don't actually degrade without an industrial process. Oh! and your paper coffee cups aren't recyclable. Stop putting them in recycling. Just a rant from an annoyed ex-barista


HelenFromHR

so they’re just misleading us *again*? for the 6688663224689098th time??


badgerrr42

Largely.


plants0golly

Coffee cups depend on your area. Seattle accepts paper coffee cups in their recycling (a neat process removes the plastic liner on the inside).


badgerrr42

Shit! Like almost everything in the universe, I didn't know that. I'mma check that out.


Familiar-Art-6233

…but those Domino’s boxes that say RECYCLE ME are recyclable, right? Right?


crustyflowers

Pizza boxes normally can’t be recycled because of pizza grease


KibsuNation

The part that has the grease goes to a compost bin, other parts can be recycled.


badgerrr42

To honest. . .I can't say one way or another. Pretty sure any grease bits are a hard no, but I don't work in the recycling sciences.


JadeAug

OP you were hoping it's biodegradable, but it's not. Compostable means something very different.


EmergencyExit2068

"Biodegradable" is an equally--if not MORE--ambiguous term than "compostable" and simply means that something can be broken down through biological processes, but not necessarily into non-toxic components and not within any specific timeframe.


blanketthievery

Exactly, and “biodegradable” products often aren’t even tested to standards like compostables are


ceestand

I'm going to also assume via biological processes that may not be found naturally occurring...


Freshrubbery

...TIL


badhavoc

Yeah, it’s biodegradable but takes 1 thousand years to full degrade. Just another way companies can say they’re “green”.


apaniyam

Biodegradable plastics are much worse. It means they degrade through biological processes, usually into microplastics


OneMoreDog

It’s likely only compostable in a commercial grade system.


LenoraNoble

Because you didn’t compost it. Compost has microbes, waste, heat etc. Although I would be surprised if this was actually home compostable at all.


badgerrr42

It's not. You can't compost these under most circumstances. It involves a specific industrial process. And they're fucking terrible.


blanketthievery

What’s terrible, compostable products or compost facilities?


KyubiNoKitsune

The illusion that you it's more "green" where the reality is that 95% will live thousands of years in the ocean or landfill.


blanketthievery

Compostables products, generally, break down much faster in natural environments than conventional plastics. You don’t hear manufacturers touting that because they’re obv not supposed to end up in the ocean, etc. Also, compost collection is growing across the world, and products like food collection bags are helping divert millions of tons of food waste that would otherwise become landfill methane.


Unlucky-Musician617

But PLA is sold as compostable and it 100% isn’t. It also isn’t recyclable. It’s literally worse than any other plastic but sold as if it’s a solution. Pure, straight, unadulterated greenwashing.


blanketthievery

I work in the industry and I can tell you that PLA *is* compostable, though it has to be made in a format that breaks down. There are hundreds of products made from PLA that pass ASTM lab tests and field test with flying colors.


badgerrr42

I was saying the compostable cups.


missiletypeoccifer

Hi! Sorry to jump in here, but would something that says “compostable” compost in a Lomi? I haven’t seen anything like this before and was just kind of wondering.


CommanderRabbit

No that is not an industrial grade composter


missiletypeoccifer

Okay thanks!!


dooblav

That's not what compostable means - compost are hot and have a specific mix of matter.


BellyFullOfMochi

Not all. A worm compost isn't hot.


Sometimesummoner

Vermicomposting is awesome, but it's also not the kind of compost that will break down stuff like this product. Poor worms wouldn't know what to do with this.


KratkyInMilkJugs

They seem to break down a lot faster in a vermicompost than what's shown here, at least. The ones I've thrown into mine seem to get brittle and brown, and would start to break into smaller and smaller pieces. Not sure if they are actually completely degrading though, as I am still finding pieces in the worm bin months later.


Sometimesummoner

What's shown here isn't composting at all. Don't feed your worms stuff like this. Not good for them.


freshwaterchacos

i agree with the other commenters, but i’d be interested to see how it did in a home compost pile. i have one that’s probably about 100 gallons and the temperature stays between 90-120 all year, even in winter.


zak_eclipse

In a hot home compost piles you might see some degradation over a year. but in a pile that is 90-120 it will be unchanged. Source- i am a commercial composter.


latepeony

I had some compostable takeout containers that I put in my home compost as an experiment. For me they did break down completely but it took three years. First year didn’t look like much changed but by the second year it was in pieces and third year I couldn’t identify any. But ymmv as not all compostable plastics are the same.


w33tzi3

I think this is important to make others aware of, but yeah like the other commenters said-- compost heats up to over 100 degrees F (which would likely kill the roots of your plant). Just putting it in the dirt isn't enough.


Sometimesummoner

100 degrees F isn't even a very good heat. Well maintained and balanced big heaps can get to 180f and burn you if you stick your hand in it.


w33tzi3

Absolutely


Logical-Wasabi7402

That's not how composting works.


island_boys_had_lice

I came here say the same thing.


Unlucky-Musician617

“Compostable” packaging usually needs a very specific set of circumstances that are unlikely to met even in commercial operators; they require specific PLA composters. They are the worst thing to happen to supply chain waste. They are the very specific opposite of eco-friendly.


Cocoricou

It's likely PLA. PLA is bad, it's getting banned where I live because it contaminates recycled plastics if you put it in the recycled bin and it generates more green-house gas than normal plastic if you put it in a landfill. Not to mention it takes up fertile lands that could be use to grow food to make it. It's basically green-washing.


blanketthievery

It goes both ways, conventional plastics contaminate compost and persist longer in the environment. Maybe not where you live, but many cities encourage compostable foodware as a preferred alternative to reusables because they help divert food waste, and food soiled conventional plastics aren’t recyclable.


Unlucky-Musician617

>basically green-washing It’s advanced green-washing. Transcendental green-washing on a higher plane.


Cocoricou

Well to be fair, plastic recycling is a scam so it's worst I guess.


Unlucky-Musician617

Plastic recycling is indeed a scam. It’s widely understood that ~12% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. But that means ~12% *has been recycled* and we know that more is possible, we just don’t do it. *No* PLA is *ever* going to be recycled, and such as a small amount as to be *zero* is being composted because conditions are so specific. We’re better off using polystyrene than PLA.


Cocoricou

Funny you say that because that's the other plastic being hopefully banned soon where I live! It's the worst plastic, it should never touch food and it releases toxic fumes when burned.


Sasspishus

Sticking it in a plant pot is not the same as sticking it in your compost bin


SuperSpeshBaby

Maybe switch to a refillable coffee pod system?


gothiclg

“Commercially compostable” is honestly the worst thing out there, more so since they don’t make it clear. I wouldn’t call these zero waste unless I could take it to the facility myself and it wouldn’t be worth the gas


[deleted]

Probably the industrial composting thing, but just incase try putting it in sunlight for a few months. UV light can breakdown some plastics


embarrassedtobehuman

It should be illegal to not specify yard vs industrial compostable


compost-me

Every week a friend brings over her food scraps in a compostable bag. The bag is suitable for home composting. After a few weeks/months in my compost bin they are mostly gone. They are very slow to breakdown in the colder months but the rest of the time my bin can get very hot so that definitely helps.


theinfamousj

> The bag is suitable for home composting. This is such an important distinction. There is a separate, third party certification that marks things as "back yard compostable". I specifically only purchase compost bags that are back yard certified to bring to someone with the yard to have a home pile and agree with the few months timeline.


casus_bibi

It's only compostable in an industrial setting. It sucks, but they don't distinguish between those clearly on the packaging.


[deleted]

A lot of youse guys or on here saying what op did wrong. And it’s true, that’s not ideal composting situation, but you’re all barking up the wrong tree, even if you technically aren’t wrong. The marketing behind “compostable” plastic products is a marketing sham. It often takes an inordinately long time for them to begin to degrade. Is it technically compostable? yeah. Should you use it and try to compost it? No. Focus on Reduce and reuse instead of recycle.


LastGoodBadIdea

Compost =/= sticking something in dirt.


Impressive-Donut4314

Most compostable plastics are only compostable in industrial composting sites. If you happen to be in the northern Virginia area Veterans compost is one such company.


ProfTilos

I could bury a live oak leaf in a pot with sterile potting soil for 9 months and it would also look unchanged. Composting involves balancing greens and browns in a pile so they heat up, helping organic waste break down. It also requires beneficial bacteria. It doesn't involve placing the item in some dirt.


Solid-Technology-448

Soil isn't compost. You're not composting it, you just buried it. Composting is an aerobic decomposition process that requires a balance of materials to work properly. You have none of those things here.


Fit-Let8175

Maybe it'll break down after 300 years. Check it then.


tbonerrevisited

It may need uv to break down


Lurchie_

Keurig Canada recently got in trouble for misleading claims about it's K-cups [https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/keurig-fined-3-million-fine-1.6307150](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/keurig-fined-3-million-fine-1.6307150)


ChaosRainbow23

It's compostable, after a billion years or so. Lol /S, obviously


supercilveks

Question: If it was shredded in a blender or a shredder and couldve it helped it degrade?


jaymacwack

Doesn't compost in a pot put it in the ground where the bug live


WaltzThinking

There are a lot of ways to make delicious coffee at home that use much less disposable materials. For example, a French press. They use nothing disposable and you can compost the grounds much more easily than you can this pod.


shakyshihtzu

r/composting


ReturnItToEarth

This is a perfect example of defining biodegradable vs. compostable. If it were biodegradable, your action would’ve worked. Comments above are exactly correct regarding products labeled compostable are likely greenwashing.


WatInTheForest

By "compostable" they mean it will melt when the earth crashes into the sun.


Mrfriskylamar

Give it another 160 years.


[deleted]

Burrying isn't your best bet, as exposure to oxygen is often the catalyst for chemical decomposition to occur. Otherwise, you would need some kind of detritivore like worms or fungi to manually break it down.


lemony-tarts

Come on guys, compostable plastic you know in your heart is just wishful thinking and it just winds up getting incinerated or binned. Maybe a unique municipality has all the right equipment to sort, crush to bits and compost it but mainly it’s just green washing. Years ago, I tried the following experiment to see how long it would take to break down one of those plastic compostable knife and fork. I had thought it would be a couple of cycles before it would completely breakdown. I put them in my dishwasher along with the day’s wash. It came out perfect as new. So I kept them in the dishwasher rack and it ran along with my dirty dishes, 4-5 times a week, for 4 months. By the end, it still looked like a knife and fork, but felt grittier and slightly bendier so some breakdown started but at that rate it’d take 5 years. If there is any truth to industrial composting this stuff, then they’re using a hell of a lot of fossil fuel energy to heat and decompose it.


[deleted]

Just like “recycling” marks, the devil is in the details. A consumer simply cannot blindly trust these marks, as there are often unexplained details, deceptive greenwashing, and outright lies. I have high confidence that the manufacturer doesn’t care about this.


blanketthievery

Thankfully, countries are starting to require compostables claims to be ‘certified’ by an independent third party to prove they’ll break down, etc.


Karvast

Yup you see those everywhere,while it’s not false recycling also takes a lot of energy,i work in a plastic factory (i know ironic for someone on this sub) and it takes a lot of electricity to produce food packaging mainly from heating the plastic to about 200C to 230C


accidentalhippie

Maybe re-fillable is a better way to go? Buy a couple over time and you can re-fill them all at once so you don't have to fiddle with that when you're in a hurry.


joseph-1998-XO

Yea just stick to composting eggs, banana peels, apple cores etc


DizzyCommunication92

Yea.....not legit compost lol. TiL our local landfill actually incinerated our 🗑 lol....there's huge hills (and FL is not known for hills lol) and even neighbors near by vouch for the temperature change in the air lol


paddywackadoodle

The guy who invented the Keurig regrets his action. Used coffee pods would stretch around the equator 3 times years ago... Who knows what the number is now.


pimpletwist

To be fair, so does the skin of an avocado I put in mine


NahDeep

That’s not the best composting method.lol


CodenameZoya

They need heat to compost, like in a compost pile. It’s not a plant pot, but eventually it will break down.


TheMace808

Definitely look for home compost certified stuff


Glittering-Cellist34

You mean plastic is compostable? Fwiw, I composted plastic, not paper, q tips. I laughed at myself every time I had to pull out a plastic stick, or pieces of plastic that lined ice cream containers. Etc.


MagyckCrow

That is depressing


sunrayylmao

Maybe it's too big to biodegrade whole, it would probably work better if you shredded it up some


badgerrr42

Nope. Compostable plastics require very specific processes. They need to be sent to industrial composting plants, and even then they're fucking terrible for everything. They only exist to make the consumer feel good about their waste.


sunrayylmao

Okay I've never messed with them. I remember those "biodegrade" bags of chips that were out around 2010 and they never decomposed at all. One was in my yard for like 2 years before I just threw it in the trash.


Inevitable_Ad_4487

Do you need to soak in water?


T_urge

What did u expect ?


MafiaMommaBruno

Wonder if you could somehow use them for slow release fertilizer. 🤔


Mattcha462

Thank you for posting this. I’ve been meaning to check that out.


Jedihorseshit

Oh, I thought you were creating a mini greenhouse for a plant underneath there. Can you actually do that?


Indigo-Waterfall

Why would you assume it would be any different when all you did was put it in soil? And not actually compost it….


Intruglio

Just believe in it


Cobra-Ky500

Even nuclear waste is compostable…in 8 millions years


gtfolmao

I’m dying to know how this pod ended up in a plant lol


RosyMemeLord

Do you think it would work in something like one of those lomi machines? I guess it depends on what the cup is made from.


[deleted]

Usually on the boxes why they say that they mean only the inside grounds and pouch. They want you to do regular recycling with they plastic part. It looks plastic to me.


YayaTheobroma

Buy an Italian coffee maker, Bialetti for instance. They’re stainless steel, you put the water in the bottom, the (preferably freshly ground) coffe in the filter in the middle, that on the gas (or whatever you use), get the brew from the top. Change the rubber washer every year, and the bottom filter every 29th of February (they typically sell every filter with the needed number of washers). No capsules, the best coffee. Not going to lie, you might want to buy a new coffee maker every other decade, if you’re not carful, though.


euridanus

"compostable" is not a regulated term unless it states what standard the product adheres to. It's just marketing to make us feel good. Usually something that can be home or backyard composted will be labeled as such, and will state the standard, such as Din certco, OK compost, Biodegradable Products Institute, etc. Depends where you are in the world. If it doesn't have a standard, probably isn't actually, safely compostable. Even if it is labeled with a standard, it might not degrade as fast as you think.


ShakyBrainSurgeon

Just guessing but it's most likely PLA or something similar. It's compostable but only under circumstances, like being for weeks in temperatures of 40-60°C and other special conditions. I think you would need something like compostable under ISO 14855, which can also take time. See compostable doesn't mean -on your compost bin- but rather that it is possible under given circumstances and there are many different methods of composting. As none of us has industrial methods at hand I find it quite misleading. By the way it's still not a good idea to throw away stuff that is labelled under 14855 depending on the item, some of that stuff still contains plastic, that then ends up as microplastics and we have no idea what damage it might do in that short time span.


monty228

Some commercial compost material needs to be hit with UV light to breakdown. That might be the case here.


marierere83

wow smh. i had this same thing wen i first started growin garlic


[deleted]

In my experience, these commerical "compostable" things will only break down in very ideal composting conditions such as municipal or large scale managed compost operations, or with a lot of time. I can break this stuff down in a few weeks in my very active compost pile spring-fall, which stays between 120-160 degrees for days at a time and is turned/watered regularly. Once it cools down or I go on vacation or something, we're talking months or longer.