Are biscuits bio-degradable?
That was funnily enough my slightly irrational concern this afternoon when, as part of my massive kitchen-cleaning spree, I discovered 4 nearly-empty packs of biscuits/ cookies.
Following this, I finally accepted two things:
a) I have a 'condition' whereby I seem to always leave the last few biscuits in the pack before completely forgetting about them. Saving for a rainy day? 'Damp' is not my favourite taste so I need to get real. Any biscuit-therapists around?
b) My high-school science book already taught me several years ago what 'bio-degradable' meant. So I did not really need Google to tell me that biscuits are 'food and plant' items and hence most certainly bio-degradable. Could it be that I, and others like me, are beginning to doubt our brains because its too easy to ask the World-Wide-Web? Any WWW-therapists around?
While I mull over both those things, here is a photo of some of my biscuit stash. I can confirm they all taste stale!
I've been a recycling aficionado for several years now, ever since London boroughs introduced the green and purple bins for all flats/ houses. It's not all new though. Having grown up in India, recycling is part of every day life, right from hand-me-down clothes to 'raddiwalas' who come to your house to collect newspapers, magazines and paper items and pay you by the kilo. When I was young, people could even give away old clothes in exchange for new kitchen utensils! It helps that India is a big country straddling many socio-economic strata, so one person's waste is another person's commercial opportunity.
Still it looks like the Europeans learnt a trick or two from us as my friend in Copenhagen showed me how she puts her 'empties' in a collection machine at her local superstore and gets coupons to spend in store. This is what WWF says about recycling in Denmark. And here's an interesting blogpost by a Copenhagen native. It is thought-provoking to read that some people in Denmark (a country with one of the highest standard of living) are collecting cans and bottles to get the coupons, just as the homeless in many 'developing'/ 'emerging nation' cities do to make ends meet. It depends, I guess, on how we define 'ends'.
A few weeks ago I was in Auroville, near Pondicherry in southern India where I noticed for the first time bins marked for segregated waste. A significant milestone in a country where bins are often completely lacking (security issues or poor municipal planning?) and most people ignore them even when they are visible.
Back to the biscuits- a few months ago I started segregating bio-degradable waste again (I used to compost earlier using a ground floor neighbour's compost pit). I'm glad to be part of a community that is thinking ahead and making a difference, albeit a small one in terms of global waste. But I wish someone would design more efficient and smart-looking bins so my tiny kitchen/ dining space isn't taken up by 3 of them!
On that thought I must depart as my new pack of Chocolate and Hazelnut cookies is getting lonely.
Following this, I finally accepted two things:
a) I have a 'condition' whereby I seem to always leave the last few biscuits in the pack before completely forgetting about them. Saving for a rainy day? 'Damp' is not my favourite taste so I need to get real. Any biscuit-therapists around?
b) My high-school science book already taught me several years ago what 'bio-degradable' meant. So I did not really need Google to tell me that biscuits are 'food and plant' items and hence most certainly bio-degradable. Could it be that I, and others like me, are beginning to doubt our brains because its too easy to ask the World-Wide-Web? Any WWW-therapists around?
While I mull over both those things, here is a photo of some of my biscuit stash. I can confirm they all taste stale!
I've been a recycling aficionado for several years now, ever since London boroughs introduced the green and purple bins for all flats/ houses. It's not all new though. Having grown up in India, recycling is part of every day life, right from hand-me-down clothes to 'raddiwalas' who come to your house to collect newspapers, magazines and paper items and pay you by the kilo. When I was young, people could even give away old clothes in exchange for new kitchen utensils! It helps that India is a big country straddling many socio-economic strata, so one person's waste is another person's commercial opportunity.
Still it looks like the Europeans learnt a trick or two from us as my friend in Copenhagen showed me how she puts her 'empties' in a collection machine at her local superstore and gets coupons to spend in store. This is what WWF says about recycling in Denmark. And here's an interesting blogpost by a Copenhagen native. It is thought-provoking to read that some people in Denmark (a country with one of the highest standard of living) are collecting cans and bottles to get the coupons, just as the homeless in many 'developing'/ 'emerging nation' cities do to make ends meet. It depends, I guess, on how we define 'ends'.
A few weeks ago I was in Auroville, near Pondicherry in southern India where I noticed for the first time bins marked for segregated waste. A significant milestone in a country where bins are often completely lacking (security issues or poor municipal planning?) and most people ignore them even when they are visible.
Back to the biscuits- a few months ago I started segregating bio-degradable waste again (I used to compost earlier using a ground floor neighbour's compost pit). I'm glad to be part of a community that is thinking ahead and making a difference, albeit a small one in terms of global waste. But I wish someone would design more efficient and smart-looking bins so my tiny kitchen/ dining space isn't taken up by 3 of them!
On that thought I must depart as my new pack of Chocolate and Hazelnut cookies is getting lonely.
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