One of the most confusing concepts in sustainability is understanding decomposition. What I am referring to is the big question of recycling versus biodegrading versus composting. One would imagine that since one of the most important things in living sustainably is preventing waste, we would all be experts in this.

Unfortunately, the recent rise in greenwashing (when a person, brand, company, or entity spread misinformation and “fake news” in an attempt to seem environmentally responsible) means that these terms have become even more confusing. Even a quick Google search will give you two articles in the top results that give differing information!

To help us all better understand all of these confusing terms, I’m here to break it all down, clear up the confusion, and help you better spot greenwashing!

First, what is decomposition?

First, decomposition is a generally good bucket term to describe the different channels that trash can break down. It is important to note that the reason why we want trash to decompose is because if they do not decompose, trash piles up in landfills. Decomposition means the process in which organic matter is broken down into simpler elements. When we say organic, we don’t mean the organic fruits and vegetables in the grocery aisle. We’re referring to any material that can be found in the natural world (aka no man-made substances).

Here is where it gets tricky. What does being biodegradable mean?

Biodegradable refers to anything that is actually capable of being broken down into simpler elements. This means that anything that is biodegradable is capable of decomposing.

Biodegradable products can only be thrown away in the trash, which means that it will end up in the landfill. A key thing to remember is that biodegrading requires sufficient sunlight and oxygen. When traditionally biodegradable products are thrown into the landfill, they will become buried in the landfill, do not get enough oxygen, will not see sunlight, and will not biodegrade.

Another key thing to remember is often times, products that are designed to be biodegradable can also release methane, a greenhouse gas, into the air when they biodegrade. This is a key problem because basically what this means is that the biodegrading process is actually contributing to climate change. What this means is that biodegradability is not as great as it sounds and is the reason why landfills are such a huge problem for the environment.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that in general, manmade substances such as plastic are not biodegradable because they are not capable of decomposition.

Technically, if you were to place plastic under direct sunlight and wait close to about 1,000 years, then yes, the plastic will start to break down and degrade. The problem with this statement of calling plastic capable of biodegrading or decomposition is that no one has 1,000 years to wait and most of the time, trash piled up in landfills will never see the sunlight.

The second problem with this statement is that when plastic does start to break down, they do not break down into natural elements. Think the Circle of Life here and the lesson Mufasa taught Simba. The Circle of Life refers to the natural cycle of the Earth; plastics and manmade substances do not fit into this picture, and they can never decompose. They can degrade, but they will always linger.

When it comes to greenwashing, a lot of companies will play on the idea that technically, plastic will degrade in 1,000 years and call their products biodegradable. This is one of the easiest lies to make and it is also one of the easiest lies to fall for because the concept of decomposing versus degrading is confusing enough without adding the term biodegrading into the mix.

On the other hand, being compostable is simply a subset of biodegradability.

Compostable products will biodegrade (i.e. break down) into natural, simpler elements. Compostable products have the added benefit that this biodegrading process can be sped up through a compost setting. A key reason why a lot of environmentally conscious people love composting is because products will break down in 90 days and traditionally disposable products that will typically end up in the landfill can be composted. Composting is an amazing way to take advantage of the fact that natural elements such as a fruit is biodegradable and can decompose. The best way to throw away biodegradable waste is through composting, but a key thing to remember is that not everything is compostable!

One of the biggest challenges moving to New York was not having compost available. Growing up in California, I was so incredibly used to home composting being available that I took it for granted. It was a shocker to realize that New York is nowhere near the level of environmental responsibility of California. New York is slowly coming onto the bandwagon, now introducing a new way for composting to be collected from each home. Fingers crossed that we will see New York start to be as environmentally responsible as California is in the coming years!

Lastly, let’s talk recycling.

Recycling is probably the easiest to understand because of the numerous informational campaigns that have taken place over the last two decades. To break it down, however, recycling refers to a process in which something can be broken down into the raw materials used to create the product, so that the raw materials can be reused to create something new. One of the biggest challenges with recycling, however, is that having one item that isn’t recyclable in a whole batch of recyclables means that the entire batch is tossed into the landfill. This is why there have been so many news articles about what to recycle and what not to recycle.

It is so important to note down that some cities have more limitations to recycling than others, and it makes it more confusing than ever. (In case you’re curious, here is what New York City recycles.) A good rule of thumb is to always look on the packaging of a product, check that it has a recycling symbol on it, make sure it is clean, and then recycle it.

This was a massive post, but I hope this helped break down the concept of decomposition and how to responsibly get rid of waste.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you are responsibly disposing of waste in your home! If you liked this post, check out my Beginner’s Guide to Sustainability!