My Science Experiment Finally Ends

August 20, 2008

During a walk through The Container Store, I happened upon this cute little blue gift bag that had an interesting feel in my hand. I learned from the store associate that it was called a "Treeless Tote", and was made without using any paper.

The interesting thing about this little bag is that it was touted as being "photodegradable", which means it's supposed to break down when it's exposed to sunlight. So (much to Christmas Boy's dismay) I hung it on a branch of my Chinese Holly Hedge by my front door, where I could see it daily and monitor its progress.

Not much happened for about ten months, and I wondered if it would ever actually break down. That was a photo of the bag on day one. This is my little bag today, fourteen months later...

About eleven months into my experiment, the bag began to show signs of degradation, and today this is what the little bag looks like. You can see that the bag split open on the front side (the side that was exposed to the elements), there's a layer of dirt, bird excrement, and bug carcasses in the bottom of the bag, but the blue braided cotton handle is still fully intact.

My thought on the Treeless Tote being "photodegradable" is  that I guess technically, it's true, based on the bag's present day condition. However, if you're looking to spend your money on "green" products, this one isn't worth it unless you're in the habit of hanging used gift bags outside in the elements for fourteen months or longer.

Many companies tout their products as "biodegradable" or even photodegradable, and the idea is nice, but the problem with these items is that even if they are decomposable, they never get an opportunity to break down.

In order for items to break down, they need to be exposed to sunlight, moisture and oxygen -- the three things that a landfill doesn't allow for. Even things like food, which you'd think would be a biodegradable no-brainer, can take months or even years to break down once it gets buried in a landfill.

The point of my post is that biodegradable or not -- NOTHING really breaks down once it gets into a landfill. If you're trying to be "green", recycle as much as you can, and don't be sucked into spending more money on products that say "biodegradable" because unless you spread your trash out across your back yard for a few years, it isn't breaking down. Bummer.

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Comments

[Vicky from VickyandJen.com]

WOW - how neat! Thanks to Christmas Boy for letting you stick it out! What a long experiment but the findings are very helpful to all of us. Food for thought . . .

[baluoct28]

Thanks... for sharing. Good post and useful bag. your thoughts are useful. keep it up.