Biodegradability is the ability of a natural environment to decompose an object. Materials made from plant or animal matter are more biodegradable than man-made materials. Slow-decaying materials like heavy plastics can cause landfill crises, so manufacturers are creating more biodegradable products. Consumers can help by choosing natural products and recycling slow-decaying materials.
The ability of a natural environment to chemically decompose an object is defined as biodegradability. Some materials break down into organic parts much faster than others, leading them to be termed biodegradable. Measuring an object’s biodegradability can determine how long it will last in its current form.
The process that causes biodegradability is essentially decomposition, or rotting. A buried or abandoned object is slowly broken down by surrounding microorganisms, bacteria, and exposure to the elements. While observable cracking is visible in some elements within hours, other materials can remain essentially unchanged for centuries or even millennia. This leads to considerable concern about the amount of non-biodegradable waste created by human consumption and has led to a push for the use of more biodegradable products.
Typically, materials constructed from plant or animal material have a high rate of biodegradability. Paper, made primarily from the pulp of trees, will degrade quite quickly in a natural environment, because the Earth naturally contains the microorganisms to break down such material. Materials that are primarily man-made, on the other hand, don’t necessarily have natural mechanisms to break down the material.
Biodegradability is an important part of ecology discussions. All over the world, landfills are built like huge pits for waste of all kinds. While biodegradable materials decompose quickly and become organic materials, materials that degrade slowly, such as heavy plastics, will last for centuries. The durability of non-biodegradable substances quickly pushes landfills beyond their capacity and can lead to a crisis for waste storage space. Landfill studies have also shown that the man-made environment within the landfill itself may not be conducive to biodegradability, as the waste may not receive enough light or have the proper interaction with microorganisms needed to cause decay.
Since the importance of biodegradability has become clear, many manufacturers have made great strides to improve the biodegradability of common products. Packaging materials, for example, are often made from paper that is easily recycled and degrades quickly, as opposed to Styrofoam or the previously popular slow-decaying plastic packaging material. New formulas have been created for plastics that allow for faster biodegradation by lowering the molecular weight of the components.
To help slow landfill expansion, consumers may want to look for products made primarily with natural ingredients. Some green-savvy companies will even list products as biodegradable, in hopes of attracting customers interested in preventing the spread of waste. Since using all-natural products is somewhat difficult to manage, try to reuse and recycle slow-decaying products like plastic water bottles whenever possible.
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