waxed paper | Crazy About Compost

Waxed Paper: Is It Compostable?

Sometimes I read really deep into really specific things. Although I don't use wax paper at all, somehow I ended up spending a week or two emailing companies that manufacture it to ask what theirs is made of. Soybean wax or paraffin? Is the paraffin derived from vegetable oil or petroleum? Every company I heard from used paraffin derived from petroleum, not vegetable oil. Of the 7 companies I received a reply from, 5 used paraffin from petroleum and the other 2 used soybean wax (The companies that haven't answered at all are Norpak and Marcal). Of the replies I received, If You Care had a thorough explanation as to why they use soybean wax instead of petroleum. More appealing than that was that their product is chlorine and bleach…

Can you compost waxed paper?

I've been spending a lot of time reading about waxed paper lately, and trying to decide how I feel about composting it. While I rare use the stuff, a lot of people do and it's worth looking into. I'm currently working on a survey (note: all done! click here) of all the manufacturers of the stuff, trying to categorize it the best I can for those of you working with it. The main point of contention seems to be whether or not the wax is made from paraffin or soybean wax. What I've discovered is that soybean wax is rare in comparison to the number of companies using paraffin, and maybe you've read that vegetable oil is a source for paraffin. Through further investigation, all the companies I've surveyed utilize…

Worm Wonderings #1: can you compost waxed paper?

For fun, I decided to add some wax paper items to my worm composting bin: I decided to add a Jimmy John's sandwich wrapper and some little blueberry muffin cake things left over from Thanksgiving I forgot about. Seriously messed up on that one- my mom makes killer food. Sorry mom! I'll let you know if the worms like it (they did, but not the wax paper). Oh- did you know that the majority of "paper" cups you see contain a plastic liner in them? If your finished worm castings seem to have bits of shiny plastic in them, and you put a paper cup or two in the worm bin, chances are the remnants are what's left from the cups. Vermicomposting is fun, but I always go back to…