microplastics | Crazy About Compost

Compost Contaminants

I just finished filling in the beds with 15 month finished compost, and the contamination wasn't as bad as I thought. Besides the produce labels and the blue strand of plastic from my old tarp, I think the rest of it was all swept up when collecting leaves off the street. I use my finished compost for horticultural purposes, and I double-screen the stuff I use for my cilantro and basil. Plastics are everywhere... it would be crazy to think I could remove 100% of it from my compost, but I'm definitely satisfied with what I have. Composting is always worth it :)

Paper Skeletons

I took a peek at my curing compost pile recently, and somehow contaminants seem to push their way to the top. There was a small piece of a styrofoam cup, some plastic film, and then this skeleton of an ice cream carton...or at least most of it. Where's the rest of it? It's now in my compost in microplastic form. I always thought I'd just experiment with a variety of items that seemed to consist of just paper, only to find out there's plastic in there too. Moral of the story: Be conscious of what "paper" products you add to your compost pile. If you keep it to paper towels, napkins, tissues and certified compostable products, you should be good to go. Where is the line drawn? I doubt my…

Getting Pickier with Plastics

[ reposted from tylertalkstrash.com ] After reading a fair bit of material regarding microplastics in compost, I've decided to become more strict on what I contribute to my compost piles. Up to this point, I've been experimenting with how much of an item will compost, even when I'm aware it contains some plastic. For example, I've added quite a few ice cream cartons, chinese food containers, paper cups, and fast food waste that I dumpstered from several establishments. The plan has been to pick out the plastic skeletons that remain when I screen my finished product...I've been doing that for a long time, with the most common example being the occasional produce sticker that I missed. What's the big deal anyway? I'm not going to use my compost to grow…