If you can’t see a trash can along the road, do you just throw away the peel of the banana you just ate on the ground? If you think to yourself that it’s fine and “it will just decompose anyway,” think again. While it does decompose, you might be wrong in assuming that it decomposes quickly.
For this matter, Popular Mechanics interviewed Rhonda Sherman, an extension solid waste specialist at North Carolina State University’s Department of Horticultural Science. She also authored a book entitled “Backyard Composting of Yard, Garden, and Food Discards.”
Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the decomposition process. The first thing that happens after you toss your peel is that microorganisms start breaking it down by secreting enzymes that cause the decomposition, Sherman says. But because microorganisms don’t have mouths or teeth, this doesn’t happen quickly.
… while weather does play a role—things decompose more quickly in tropics than, say, a desert—when all is said and done, food waste can take years to decompose, not just a few weeks like many people may think.
If your banana peel is just laying on the ground for two years, it’s not good for the environment. Plain and simple.
So where do we throw our banana peels, or any kind of food waste? We throw it in the trash bin. Or even better, we can compost it.
Find out more about this topic over at the site.
(Image Credit: Alexas_Fotos/ Pixabay)