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AL
ISTAIRBERG/GETT
Y^ IMAGESThese articles are
posted each week at
newscientist.com/makerWhat you need
Somewhere to compost e.g. a
compost bin, trench or similar
A selection of compostable
or biodegradable items
A net bag and clip
A plastic bottle cap and
permanent marker pen
HOW biodegradable is your
teabag? Are plastics labelled as
biodegradable really what they
claim to be? You can have a go at
answering these questions and
more by conducting your own
home composting experiment.
If you live in the UK, you can
submit your findings via the
Big Compost Experiment citizen
science project and contribute
directly to waste innovation
research. Start by choosing some
items labelled as biodegradable
or compostable. You might find
inspiration from the project’s
ongoing Teabag Trials, which
encourage volunteers to test out
the supposedly environmentally
friendly teabags that are now
on offer from various brands.
Before putting your items
into your composter, pop them
in a plastic net bag, along with a
plastic bottle cap labelled with a
permanent marker – this will help
identify your experiment later.
If you are an experienced
composter, just carry on as you
normally would. If you are new
to the activity, there is guidance
on the Big Compost Experiment
website to help get you started.
The process, which usually lasts
weeks or months, harnesses
animals and microorganisms
to break down organic matter,
allowing recycling of the many
nutrients found within.
Once you are ready to use
your compost, you can take a
photo and submit it to the Big
Compost Experiment online,
where you will also answer a few
questions about the process youAre your teabags really biodegradable? If you compost your waste
you can help researchers find out for sure, says Layal LiverpoolCitizen science
Take part in the teabag trials
carried out. Your observations
will help researchers, such as
Danielle Purkiss at University
College London, to better
understand how so-called
biodegradable or compostable
materials actually behave.
Observations submitted since
the project launched in November
2019 indicate that many of these
materials don’t break down as
quickly during home composting
as might be expected. “We can see
that there is a significant range of
things that are not working or are
not actually... breaking down as
the manufacturers would hope
them to,” said Purkiss, during a
webinar on 25 April.
Results from volunteers have
already shown that 66 per cent
of biodegradable or compostable
items placed in home composterswere still intact, or had only
partially degraded, by the time
the compost was harvested.
Participants so far have used
a wide range of composter types,
plus different methods and time
frames. “This is all very personal,”
said Purkiss. The diversity is what
makes the home composting
environment so challenging
to design materials for, she said.
Purkiss hopes that the findings
from the project will increase
understanding of composting’s
environmental impact, and
inform improvements to
waste management in the UK.
You can get involved by visiting
Citizen science appears bigcompostexperiment.org.uk. ❚
every four weeks
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