Bin with compost items and suggestions on what to do with paper and compostable bags, Union Square Farmer's Market, New York City. (Photo by: Joan Slatkin/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) ...

Using plastic bags is an ecological disaster; it takes about 1,000 years for one to degrade in a landfill (and even then, it leaves behind microplastics that can add toxins to soil or water).

At the urging of the plastics industry, the USDA is considering allowing materials such as bioplastic cups, coffee pods and compostable plastic bags into the organic compost waste stream. Farmers and ...

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Tom Oder is a writer, editor, and communication expert who specializes in sustainability and the environment with a sweet spot for urban agriculture. If you feed them, they will come. Microbes, that ...