The next time you throw something away or better yet, buy something, think about where the item will end up when you are done with it. If you don't reuse or recycle that item, it probably will end up in a landfill. Once in a landfill the only thing left for it to do is decompose.
Decomposition rates (rate at which it will totally break down into the earth) of items in landfills will vary depending on the amount of sunlight, moisture and air exposure it receives. Some of these time ranges are very rough estimates.
The following breaks it down for you:
Apple core: 1 to 2 months, the warmer the temperature the faster it decomposes
Glass bottles: tens of thousands of years; glass is made from sand and it can outlast most anything
Plastic drinking bottles: hundreds of years; consist of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is made from petroleum, which won't break down easily
Plastic bags: up to hundreds of years; newer plastic bags can photo-degrade, but most aren't exposed to sunlight when in a landfill
Milk carton: few months to 5 years; there may be wax along with the paper
Aluminum can: 80 to 500 years; if recycled it can be made into a new can in just weeks
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Disposable diaper:500 to 600 years; contain petroleum-based plastics and dioxin, a toxic byproduct of the chlorine bleaching process
Styrofoam: thousands of years or even longer; contains expanded polystyrene foam and is extremely costly to recycle
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Cigarette butt: 1 to 5 years; contain a small amount of plastic; will degrade quicker in warm, moist environment
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Newspaper: 2 to 4 weeks, will decompose much faster when wet
As you can see, most of these items will remain on the planet long after all of us are gone if nothing is done. So what can be done? Recycling and more eco-friendly alternatives will prevent a lot of waste from going into our landfills. Starting your own recycling program at your home, school or office could be the beginning of something great for the planet.
For more information:
More decomposition rates of some common items
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these are some awesome facts! helped a lot!! thanks clay.
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