Happy Earth Day!

In 1969, as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson came up with one of the most powerful ideas of his time: Earth Day.  Inspired by the teach-ins formed to protest the Vietnam War, Earth Day was an instant success, drawing 20 million participants the first year (1970).   American Heritage Magazine called the first Earth Day "one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy."
   Both of my parents were smokers; it was fashionable when they were young; currently known facts regarding smoking and cancer weren't known at that time; and doctors even recommended that people smoke to help keep their weight down.  Both Mom and Dad smoked filtered cigarettes, and while working at the EPA research library in the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium, I found out the time it takes  for a single filter from a single cigarette to break down, or decompose.  If a cigarette butt, with an attached filter is just thrown outside to disintegrate, it takes 3 months to 10 years for the paper and tobacco to turn into dust and become non harmful.  It takes 10 to 50 years for the filter itself to break down, being made of wood pulp products - and the core of the filter is made of acetone, which will never decompose, or break down.
   Following are some frequently quoted tables regarding trash, and how long it takes to "break down" , or decompose, into it's original components.  Please note that the first two lists regard trash, or items, in landfills, or dumps; the third is in regard to items thrown into the ocean....    Sources for rates of decomposition of litter (trash) on the web give you different rates. Once you’ve done quite a few of these searches, you realise that it boils down to about three different lists, all repeatedly quoted (but not always mentioned as the source):
1. The New York Times (Nemve E. Metropolitan Diary, October 1, 2001):
Paper- 2.5 months; Orange Peel- 6 months; Milk Carton- 5 years; Cigarette Butt- 10-12 years; Plastic bag- 10-20 years; Disposable diaper- 75 years; Tin can- 100 years; Beer can- 200-500 years; Styrofoam- never (immortal)
2. Penn State University*: Paper-2-4 Weeks; Leaves-1-3 Months; Orange Peel- 6 Months; Milk Carton- 5 years; Plastic Bag- 10-20 Years; Plastic Container- 50-80 Years; Aluminium Can- 80 Years; Tin Can- 100 Years; Plastic Soda Bottle- 450 Years; Glass Bottle-500 Years; Styrofoam-Never.
*This list is widely quoted, but I could never actually find the original source.

3. “Pocket Guide to Marine Debris,” The Ocean Conservancy, 2004*
Paper towel – 2-4 weeks; Orange or banana peel- 2-5 weeks; Newspaper- 6 weeks; Apple core- 2 months ; Waxed milk carton- 3 months; Plywood- 1-3 years; Wool sock- 1-5 years; Cigarette filter- 1-50 years; Plastic Bag- 10-20 years; Plastic film canister- 20-30 years ; Nylon Fabric- 30-40 years; Leather- 50 years; Tin can- 50 years; Foamed plastic cup- 50 years; Rubber boat sole- 50-80 years; Foamed plastic buoy- 80 years; Aluminium can- 80-200 year ; Disposable diapers- 450 years; Plastic beverage bottles- 450 year; Plastic beverage bottles- 450 year; Monofilament fishing line- 600 years; Glass Bottle- 1,000,000 years.
* Quoted in U.S National Park Service; Mote Marine Lab, FL and “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” Audobon Magazine, Spt/Oct 1998.

     Please respect or Mother Earth, and plant something living and green today.  I've already planted catnip around my back yard and in two pots.
     Have a super day!