There is often confusion over various sustainability terminology, so we thought we’d try to help make it clearer for you.

Recyclable

Recycling is the process of taking a product and breaking it down to use it again, often as a raw material. 

We can recycle paper, plastic, and cans. In most places, recycling facilities can also deal with glass. 

Compostable

Likely the most greenwashed term in sustainability, composting at the most basic level is simply a way to turn items made of natural materials back into a nutrient rich soil. Immediately we think of our backyard composter or a municipal compost bin – however, read the packaging carefully.  Many items labelled compostable will have a disclaimer to the effect of “where facilities exist.”  This is because items that are deemed compostable can be made of materials that will not breakdown naturally but need industrial facilities to do so.  And in most municipalities, these facilities don’t exist, which means your compostable item is actuality landfill.

Backyard Compostable

More consistent with what consumers envision compostable to mean is the term backyard compostable.  Quite simply, this is a product that when put into your composter or municipal compost bin, will break down into nutrient rich soil again without the need for an industrial facility.

Biodegradable

Another commonly misunderstood term is biodegradable.  Almost everything in our world will biodegrade – but seeing as there is no defined time window in which this must occur, items that take 100’s of years to break down can still be called biodegradable.  Biodegradable and compostable are not interchangeable, and many consider labelling a product as biodegradable as greenwashing.