Is this marketing or will it really help?

I've always thought that in order for something to biodegrade that it needs to be exposed to the air. As an example, you can dig up a newspaper from the 1940's from deep down in a landfill and still be able to read it because it is buried in an oxygen-free environment and has not been able to degrade. Am I wrong? Will these corn-based bags degrade even if they're not exposed to the air? If so, what about the trash inside them?

I don't mean to poopoo them completely, but it sounds like a marketing ploy to me.

Yeah, as Monica said, these don't "biodegrade," really -- they just break down into smaller pieces of plastic. The best thing to do is not use a plastic bag at all.

Okay...I just looked up "biodegration" and here's a good page on Wikipedia that talks about aerobic and anaerobic biodegration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradation

"Biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down by living organisms. The term is often used in relation to ecology, waste management and environmental remediation (bioremediation). Organic material can be degraded aerobically, with oxygen, or anaerobically, without oxygen. A term related to biodegradation is biomineralisation, in which organic matter is converted into minerals."

Biodegradable waste in landfill degrades in the absence of oxygen through the process of anaerobic digestion. The byproducts of this anaerobic biodegradation are biogas and lignin and cellulose fibres which cannot be broken down by anaerobes (anaerobic microbes).

Are there in environmental engineers in the house that can tell us more?

I agree that it's probably not as great as it sounds. Like corn-based plastics, I imagine these bags would biodegrade if you put them in a compost bin, but probably won't do much of anything in a landfill, except sit around for years and years.

Yet another product made of corn? Seems to me that in our environmentally-friendly world of the future, when everything from trash bags to fuel is derived from corn, we're going to be paying a hell of a lot for our food. And where the hell are we getting all this land to plant all this corn? Oh, you cut down another swath of rain forest? Brilliant!

I'll stick to plastic for now.

why not use plastic? as long as it gets recycled is fine..
i have the feeling there is wayyy to much hype about this no plastic at all..
just recycle recycle and recylce...

I've used these. If any of your garbage is wet you'll soon find out how quickly these bags break down. If you chose to use them be sure to take your kitchen bin outside and pull the bag out right next to your outside refuse bin. Otherwise you're going to end up with a ripped bag and garbage everywhere.

Well Troz a lot of plastic isn't recylable, recyclable, recyclable and even those that are the process to turn it into something more usable emits a lot more pollution into the environment so that's not really the best solution. Instead of debating the merits of plastic versus corn I think we should all look at ways to reduce our trash and then we won't have to use either and that will have a positive impact on the environment. I'm not saying we all need to dig a compost pile in our backyard (we don't all have yards) but we can all buy products with less packaging, use less plastic ourselves and even in a tiny apartment you can compost with worms and drastically reduce your garbage output.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

I use these bags. I must warn everyone - when they say compostable, they mean right there in your trash can. If you put anything wet in these bags, the bag will start to break down pretty quickly and if you leave wet trash in there, you're bag may become a gooey mess. They're a bit better than using paper grocery bags for trash bags (which I have done because, you know, I'm cheap and they seem better than buying plastic bags for trash), but not much.

You need to make sure to take out your trash more than once a week, is what I'm saying.

I don't use these for regular trash because they degrade far too quickly (if they get wet at all they break) but they are great for collecting for compost. I keep one in a piece of pottery on the kitchen counter and take it out every few days. It breaks down in a week or two in the compost pile.

If you're local you can also find these at your corner Walgreens. I've been spying them but was wary to try them. Good to know how quick they break down!

We use them for our counter-top compost pail and then toss them into the pile in the yard. We also use the kind for picking up dog poop.

They started using these at the coffee shop I used to work at. They do tend to break down with wet materials, but we solved that by putting a regular trash bag in first. It really wasn't worth it, and they work out to like $5 a piece.

I urge consumers and any companies considering corn-based (food based really) plastics or ethanol to fully research the topic before buying or buying into any of these products. I have done my own research and come to the conclusion that corn based products like these actually do more harm than good. For instance, does the world have such a huge surplus of food that we can literally 'throw it away' like this? We're heading toward a recession, food prices are rising, do we really want to have to compete for our food with someone who wants to buy it to create a trash bag? Not to mention the problems caused by the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow corn (read up on the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico). Once we start burning our food for fuel and throwing it away as non-edible plastic we've got really big problems on planet Earth. Don't blindly hop on the green train, read this article before advocating or buying food based plastics and fuels. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/plastic.html You'll be much more environmentally friendly if you do the basics like recycling, composting and re-using.

madge - thanks so much for post that smithsonian article link. very interesting & informative.

Ah, but we're still left with what to do--not plastic, not corn, not paper Ok, I get that. But while I try to keep my packaging and throw-aways down, the truth is I'm still carrying out garbage two or three times a week. Given that, what oh what should it be in?

Nice to know! My apartment building is in a pilot program for multifamily composting in Seattle; they gave us a number of these bags (possibly a different brand) when we started, but I didn't know where to go to get more. I don't think I'd use them for regular trash though; they don't seem terribly sturdy and anything a little sharp tears right through. Not really a problem since nothing in the compost is sharp, but not good for trash. They don't hold up to liquids, but I haven't had a problem with damp coffee grounds.

The made from corn compostable eating utensils they've introduced on the University of Washington campus are another matter. Really, you just can't eat with a spoon that melts in your hot soup, no matter how eco-friendly it is!