An experiment
Like the mad scientist I was sure I would be when I grew up, here is another experiment I am conducting at Roundrock.
What you see are two grocery shopping bags. The one on the upper left is the true subject of the experiment, though I suppose you could say the one on the lower right is the control. Let’s say that.
When I was in Oregon back in June we did a little shopping at a grocery store that used plastic bags that were suppose to decompose in about two weeks in the weather. I kept one of those bags deliberately with the intention of using it in this experiment.
Alas, the bag went astray, and I’m pretty certain it was used to clean up after Max (the dog who doesn’t know he’s a dog). But the idea of the experiment lingered. I wanted to set out the bag in an exposed area in my woods with the intent of visiting it each time I went to Roundrock to see how it was decomposing. I thought I could take regular pictures to document its dissolution and then bore you with long-winded accounts of their progress.
So the night before our last trip to the woods, I stopped at the local health food store and bought some safflower oil (can’t get it in the regular stores) just so I could have one of their special decomposing bags.
Only their bags aren’t as enthusiastic about their journey to entropy as the ones from Oregon. The message written at the bottom of this bag says that after a year of exposure the bag will begin to show signs of decomposition. That’s going to make for some very boring progress reports. Libby thought this rate was so ridiculous that she suggested we set a conventional plastic bag beside it just to see what it might do across the year. Wouldn’t it be funny if the conventional bag dissolved sooner?
I have an order in for a few of the Oregon bags, so maybe before the end of the year I’ll have a third bag to set out for my experiment. Then you’ll get to see some action. I’m counting on it.
Missouri calendar:
- Green-winged teal migration is at its peak.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 am
science marches on! ……………….at a leisurely pace.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:17 am
If it’s plastic, even if it decomposes into tiny, tiny particles it’s still plastic. In Weisman’s The World Without Us, he spends a chapter on plastic. The ocean floor is full of very small (molecule-size) pieces of the stuff. It really doesn’t completely breakdown. I’m looking forward to your experiment. I think it’s a grand idea.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:31 am
But then there’s something called bioplastics. Interesting stuff. It still uses a lot of non-renewable energy to be produced, but it does have a designed rate of biodegrading. I did read in one place that some bioplastics can actually degrade in a compost. That’s very cool.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 am
Heady stuff that.
I’m all aquiver…
October 24th, 2007 at 7:42 am
my money is on the control bag.
October 25th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Pablo,
So how are the bags doing? Any update to report??
Carolyn H.