Posted: Sun Jun 19, 05 6:06 pm Post subject: Silly compost question
Sorry to ask such a BASIC question here (and me a long-established composter) but can I put glossy card in? I add eggboxes without worry but I mean things like cereal boxes and those silly bits of card that come around pots of dip and the like. The council won't take them with the recycling paper and I hate to throw them out...
cheers
Lisa
Treacodactyl Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 25795 Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 05 6:11 pm Post subject:
There's not such a thing as a silly question. Some card is laminated with plastic and take ages to break down and I'm not sure what would happen to the plastic. Personally I only compost plain stuff like egg boxes as the chemicals in the paper worry me. If the compost is not used on fruit and veg then there's less to worry about but I've not tried it.
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 05 9:04 am Post subject:
Things like cereal boxes are fine - they break down OK. I don't compost them as much as I should because our recycling place takes cardboard and I get plenty of "brown" material from animal bedding. When I think about it, I do put them on the heap, though.
I wouldn't bother with the plastic coated stuff either - it is a pain fishing out the plastic when you use the compost!
I wouldn't like to put stuff like that in my compost bin. The inks put me off. I used to be in the printing trade and I know that a whole lot of horrible chemicals go into it. As Treac said you should be OK if you aren't using it on fruit and veg. Personally, we just burn it. Burns off most of the chemicals then you could add the ash to the heap instead.
Some card is laminated with plastic and take ages to break down and I'm not sure what would happen to the plastic. Personally I only compost plain stuff like egg boxes as the chemicals in the paper worry me. If the compost is not used on fruit and veg then there's less to worry about but I've not tried it.
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