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nafex - LLP Re: [NAFEX] Litter's Legacy

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  • From: David W Hausmann <wizard2468@juno.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: LLP Re: [NAFEX] Litter's Legacy
  • Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:57:10 -0600

Dear LLP,
I am sure conditions play a role. I just thought a basic list on some
common objects in one place may be helpful.
However, I do have to disagree with you about the plastic degrading so
quickly. I use green 2 liter soda bottles for sleeves around young
plants to protect from the weed eater [cut off both ends and have a
sleeve capable of being pushed into wet ground, with a twist] and they
lose their shine, but I have several I have used for 8 or more years now
and are just fine. People have told me they would decay, but have yet to
see it. In fact, I am thinking of filling some with crumbled up foil and
using pop rivets to hold several together for a privacy fence. For the
posts I will fill 3 with dirt below ground and maybe another 2 or 3 above
ground filled with dirt with the foil between the dirt and the bottle, so
you would only see the foil. Could even do pictures using green and
clear bottles [vines, flowers, etc.] The only damage they can get is a
crease in them, then they just won't hold their shape. That is why I
fill the weight bearing ones with dirt [cheaper than sand here, and
mainly clay anyhow.]
Have a Good One! Love, Peace and Perception

Wizard


On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:26:31 -0600 Lucky Pittman
<lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu> writes:
> I suspect that these projected 'decomposition times' relate to these
> objects buried in the anaerobic conditions of a landfill. I can
> assure you
> that a styrofoam cup or plastic milk jug, lying on top of the
> ground, will
> degrade, due to the combined effects of UV light and bacterial(many
> Pseudomonas spp. have been shown to be able to use plastics as a
> carbon
> source) and fungal metabolism, oftentimes in less than three years.
> Likewise, the steel(tinned) can, if buried just at the soil surface,
> will
> certainly be gone in far less than 90 years - there have been
> thousands of
> direct-seeded nut trees planted with a steel can with an 'X' cut in
> the
> bottom & peeled back somewhat to allow emergence of the seedling,
> shoved
> down over them to provide some protection against pilfering by
> mice/squirrels/raccoons, and in the vast majority of cases, the can
> rusts
> completely away before the seedling attains sufficient caliper to
> require
> removal, or even cutting of the rim of the can to prevent girdling.
> That still doesn't give folks a good reason for throwing them out
> hither
> and yon.
>
> LLP
>
>
> At 11:08 AM 12/12/2004 -0600, you wrote:
> >'Ello, All!
> > I try not to be fanatical on this topic, just do what I
> can, but you
> >hear so many different decomposition rates for objects I thought
> this was
> >nice in having it all in one list. It came from a brochure from a
> paper
> >newsletter from the Missouri Forestkeepers Network, a State
> Department of
> >Conservation organization set up to monitor the state of the
> state's
> >forests.
> >
> > Litter's Legacy
> >
> > Objects Decomposition Time
> >
> >Styrofoam container >1 million years
> >
> >Plastic Jug 1 million years
> >
> >Disposable diaper 550 years
> >
> >Aluminum can 200-500 years
> >
> >Tinned can 90 years
> >
> >Leather shoe 45 years
>
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Be Cooool!
Wizard2468
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Ain't it great!
www.MS-O.com





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