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Styrofoam degrades much faster than plastic bottles.  Probably because 
it has so much surface area for light and bacteria to work on.  
Plastics vary a lot in how well they hold up to weathering.  We have 
some old plastic beach toys that are well on their way to 
disintegration after only 5 years of exposure - and they were in the 
sandbox, which is pretty shady, so it's water and bacteria and air as 
much as it is sunlight that's breaking them down.  Some aluminum cans 
in the same sandbox have held up much better, so I'm dubious even of 
the relative ages of your list.

Ginda


On Dec 13, 2004, at 12:57 PM, David W Hausmann wrote:

> 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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