Hey folks!
Guess what--I recorded another Birkenstock video. Check it out...
In short, the sandals are coming undone but that good German leather will be around for a long time at this rate. Any guesses as to how long it'll take before those shoes are soil?
ciao!
-the compost maven
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7 comments:
I'm glad you posted this; I was thinking about you this morning and wondering about your shoes. My guess is that they will still be identifiable two years from now. My corncobs from a year ago are unchanged. Transmogrification is a slow process.
I just dug up some very recognizable Annie Chun's "biodegradable" noodle bowls that had been in the compost for two years. I remember seeing them last fall and thinking I'd give them another year. Hmmm. I took a photo of them surrounded by beautiful black compost (just to prove that the pile was working). So two years seems like a short amount of time.
How did you describe that plasticized to-go container? Lo tov? As in Hebrew for "not good"? Or am I hearing things?
Ellen
Hey folks, thought I'd answer everyone in one comment...
Virginia,
Transmogrification is one of my favorite words! But I don't agree that it's necessarily a slow process. I haven't been able to find any data about the estimated compost rate of birkenstocks, but based on my own experience I'd say we're looking at a transmogrification process of at least a couple of years. That leather is tough!
Kristen,
Some companies are throwing around the "biodegradable" label WAY too loosely. It's like, okay, a Ford F150 is biodegradable, but would you really want to plant a garden in that soil, and how long would it take to biodegrade anyway?? Ya know? Would love to see those pictures of your Annie Chun bowls!
And Ellen,
Right you are: I did say, Lo Tov! Because that's what those benign-looking wrappers are: they're wolves in sheep's clothing making you think you're going green but it's really still plastic underneath. Okay, it's way more "Tov" than polystyrene aka, styrofoam, which is so recalcitrant to biodegradation that it has no known half life, but still. That should be my new t-shirt design:
Polystyrene: the lowest Lo Tov of all.
Thanks for visiting my blog, y'all!
Holly!
holly@wastefreeliving.com
Leather takes about 50 years to decompose in a landfill so I imagine those shoes will be with you for quite some time.
year-old corncobs look like new, but tthey are easy to crumble.
Son my jack o lanterns will be carefully placed on the pile. I will wacth their faces out the window as they wither and get icky.
Mmmmm...dirrrrt.....(slobber sounds)
I envy you. I have no place to compost where I live, and have to buy soil every freakin' spring. Also, I'm now going to incorporate "lo tov" into my everyday conversation. Thank you.
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