Reading material: About Paper Cups

[jesvetmed]

I listened to an NPR conversation last week -- they talked about the "biodegradable" and "compostable" cups and bags... basically it takes specialized recycling ability to actually get the compost "hot" enough to compost the cups (which most recyclers are not yet doing), and the bags only biodgrade over long periods of time, IF exposed currectly to the environment (which the point out is unlikely in a large pile of garbage at the dump). It seems overwhelming to know the right thing to do.

One person suggested using the compostable cups to plant seedlings in (put them straight into the ground once big enough to replant the seedlings). Said he thought that in that environment it could be fairly broken down in 1-2 years, but no one had studied it.

It would be nice to find garbage bags made from a large percentage of recycled products, not just "recyclable" in their own right. I'll keep looking! In the mean time, I just try to keep the actual garbage down to a minimum and remember my bags and cups from home. THANKS for all the suggestions here. Important topic to chat about.

[OakLeaf]

FWIW, rather than having a real compost pile last year, I was just throwing my kitchen waste in an unused spot in the garden patch. (Grass clippings and autumn leaves went in a separate pile to use as mulch.) I tilled in a couple of those corn oil-based salad bar containers, and haven't seen any scraps of plastic this year. Maybe it's just broken up into very small pieces and not actually biodegraded yet, but as long as they're nontoxic, I don't suppose it much matters.

Cornstarch packing peanuts are water soluble. I have plenty of the EPS ones to reuse (plus I didn't want to leave any potential mouse food around the house), so I just threw the starch peanuts on the pile and they soaked into the ground with the first rain.

[jesvetmed]

Oakleaf: That is great to know! We rent this place so no current compost / mulch piling going on. But when we get the new house... (she says dreamily).

[Blueberry]

I haven't searched all over...but is there a concensus on a good hot beverage mug that fits into a standard water bottle cage? I know about the Nissan hiker mug, but that has a straw (which I don't think I want with hot stuff). Other ideas??

I've been looking envoiusly at some of the lunch kits on the reusable bag sites. Bento kits and the like. Very cool - more veggies would probably be consumed Might be worth it

CA

[sgtiger]

CA_in_NC - Nissan Thermos Backpack vacuum bottle model JMV-500 will fit in a water bottle cage. Mine fitted a bit loosely so I was experiencing some rattling. I picked up a Topeak adjustable cage to fix that, but someone(Eden?) else mentioned on another thread that she just bent her cage.

Here are a couple of places online that carry it:
http://sweetmarias.com/prod.travelmugs-bottles.shtml
http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-STAINL...875191&sr=8-11

I think I saw some at the local Target, too.