{"id":2979,"date":"2021-03-17T22:17:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T22:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/?p=2979"},"modified":"2021-03-17T22:17:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T22:17:20","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-a-plastic-bottle-to-decompose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/17\/how-long-does-it-take-a-plastic-bottle-to-decompose\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long Does It Take a Plastic Bottle to Decompose?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everything takes time to break down. Here&#8217;s the time frame for a plastic bottle \u2014 and 11 other commonly consumed items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/experiencelife.lifetime.life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Breaking-It-Down.jpg\" alt=\"A selection of items, including an aluminum can, paper towels, and a plastic bottle\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Heidi Wachter | <a href=\"https:\/\/experiencelife.lifetime.life\/contributor\/experience-life\/\">Experience Life<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Sheet of paper towel:<\/strong> 2 to 4 weeks<\/li><li><strong>Apple core:<\/strong> 1 to 2 months<\/li><li><strong>Banana Peel:<\/strong> 2 years<\/li><li><strong>Cigarette butt:<\/strong> at least ten years<\/li><li><strong>Steel can:<\/strong> 50 years<\/li><li><strong>Small potato-chip bag:<\/strong> 75 to 80 years<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/experiencelife.lifetime.life\/article\/the-last-straw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Plastic straw:<\/strong><\/a> Up to 200 years<\/li><li><strong>Aluminum can:<\/strong> 200 to 500 years<\/li><li><strong>Plastic bottle:<\/strong> 450 years<\/li><li><strong>Disposable diaper:<\/strong> 550 years<\/li><li><strong>Monofilament fishing line:<\/strong> 600 years<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/experiencelife.lifetime.life\/article\/is-chewing-gum-bad-for-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Chewing gum:<\/strong><\/a> 100s of years<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>*Over time, nonorganic items break down into smaller fragments, and those pieces remain in the <a href=\"https:\/\/experiencelife.lifetime.life\/category\/sustainability\/environmental-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">environment<\/a>. Further, the length of time it takes for something to decompose depends on weather, size of the object, how the item was disposed of, and other factors.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This originally appeared as \u201cThe High Cost of Litter\u201d in the January\/February 2020 print issue of<\/em> Experience Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heidi Wachter is an <em>Experience Life<\/em> senior&nbsp;editor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everything takes time to break down. Here&#8217;s the time frame for a plastic bottle \u2014 and 11 other commonly consumed items. By Heidi Wachter | Experience Life Sheet of paper towel: 2 to 4 weeks Apple core: 1 to 2 months Banana Peel: 2 years Cigarette butt: at least ten years Steel can: 50 years<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link\">\n\t\t\t\t <a href=\"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/17\/how-long-does-it-take-a-plastic-bottle-to-decompose\/\" class=\"theme-btn theme-btn-line hvr-bounce-to-right\">Read more<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,112],"tags":[16,396,14],"class_list":["post-2979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plastic","category-pollution","tag-global-warming","tag-platic-bottles","tag-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2980,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions\/2980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}