Fact or Fiction Friday - 50 shades of decomposition 🤔

Wet wipes or disposable cleaning cloths decompose fairly rapid.

FALSE      Wet wipes are popular for quickly removing makeup, changing babies' diapers, and making housecleaning a snap, as well as recently used for antibacterial wipes to disinfect everything from hands to surfaces touched by the public.   The problem is they contain polyester-based plastic that's virtually indestructible. They take a century to break down after they're tossed in the garbage or flushed down the toilet.

 

How long it takes 50 common items to decompose

All non-living things are eventually broken down into simple molecules by the elements, microorganisms, and the ravages of time, but some things take significantly longer to decompose than others. When a person throws something in the garbage, the discarded item seems to be out of their life forever. However, the item's journey to elemental breakdown or decomposition has just begun. Organic materials like the leftover pieces of salad someone couldn't quite finish can return to the Earth in a matter of days, but the plastic that salad was packaged in can stay put for thousands of years.

It's important to note that many variables affect decomposition, and the timelines stated in this article are derived from averages or amalgamations based on large samples. Decomposition rates can vary dramatically based on factors like temperature, moisture, exposure to sunlight and the elements, the presence or lack of microorganisms, and whether the object is buried or exposed. Also, some items like plastic bottles contain a variety of objects that are made differently from various quantities of dissimilar materials. In other words, not all plastic bottles are the same, so they're likely to have varied decomposition rates.

Read on to find out how long it takes 50 common items to decompose.

 Monofilament fishing line: 600 years

Plastic bags: 10–1,000 years

Foamed plastic cups: 50 years

Straws: 200 years

Wet wipes: 100 years

6-pack holders: 450 years

Tin: 50 years

Tires: 2,000 years

Nylon fishing nets: 40 years

Nylon fabric: 30–40 years

 Plastic bottles: 450 years

Cotton T-shirts: 6 months

Wool socks: 1–5 years

Synthetic fabric: 100-plus years

Aluminum cans: 80–100 years

Vegetables: 5 days–1 month

Orange peels: 6 months

Banana peels: Up to 6 months

Hairspray bottles: 200–500 years

Rope: 3–14 months

Sanitary pads and tampons: 25-plus years

Cotton gloves: 3 months

Latex gloves: several months to several years

Thread: 3–4 months

Paper waste: 2–6 weeks

Iron: several years

Food waste: several months to several years

Shoes: 25–40 years

Rubber boot soles: 50–80 years

Cardboard: 2 months

Train tickets: 2 weeks

Canvas: 1 year

Paper towels: 2–4 weeks

Waxed milk cartons: 3 months

Non-waxed cartons: 5 years

Disposable diapers: 500 years

Rubber bands: up to 1 year

Painted boards: 13 years

Lumber: 10–15 years

Plywood: 1–3 years

Batteries: 100 years

Ink cartridges: 450–1,000 years

Leather: 50 years

Plastic bottle caps: 10–500 years

Apple cores: 2 months

Polyurethane seat cushions: 1,000 years

Glass: 1 million-plus years

Aluminum foil: never

Styrofoam: never

#Naturalhomebrands #decomposition #gogreen #ecofriendly #factorfictionfriday #disposabletimeline #householditems

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