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This Post is Not Compostable

This Post is Not Compostable

Could we be living in the dawn of a compostable age? From the look of things so far this year, it seems so. We’ve seen compostable potato chip bags [3] from a major manufacturer, compostable coffee cups [4], meat trays [5], produce bags and more. Even the largest retailer [6] in the world is composting these days.

So why now? Well, after years and years of not being quite good enough, the technology to make solid, cost-efficient compostable packaging has arrived. And driving that technology is increasing consumer consciousness about the massive amount of waste we produce. Can you blame them? They don’t want this world to end up like the one depicted in Wall-E [7]— a depopulated wasteland filled with skyscraper-high piles of trash.



More importantly, how do we know what’s really compostable and what’s not? A recent study [10] showed that trash bags labeled as “biodegradable” actually did more harm to the ecosystem than help. I recently spoke with Lisa de Lima, grocery manager at MOM’s Organic Market, and she expressed skepticism about new bottled waters being pitched to her as biodegradable.

