TIMELINE OF: BREAK DOWN AND BIODEGRADE:
Two to five months for paper to biodegrade.
Five years for a plastic-coated paper cartons.
Up to 12 years for cigarette butts.
50 to 100 years for tin cans.
200-500 years for aluminum cans.
One million years for a styrofoam container or plastic jug.
But the GOOD NEWS: it only a few minutes to pick it up – and carry it to the nearest garbage bin.
As I write this, I watch a plastic bag try to untangle itself from a tree in the park.
I actually wonder how it got there, who threw it away, and what I would say to that person, if I saw him or her — “in the act”.
For all I know, that bag may have escaped on its own – and is innocently being whipped around by the wind,….the victim of circumstance.
But then I see the paper coffee cup rolling down the sidewalk, and the person who just threw his cigarette butt on the sidewalk. Hmmm — not so brave now,…am I?
Happy pre-Earth Day. Save a tree. Hug a tree. Try to use less of all those wonderful resources we have at our finger tips. I love using my travel mug. It’s second nature (hey – I actually made a joke),…to throw it in my knapsack.
Let’s make being environmentally friendly … Cool!
Grab your travel mug