This label is one of most easily verifiable labels. If you are unsure whether a material or product is compostable, conduct your very own household experiment to verify the truth. Similarly to biodegradable materials there are certain scenarios which can accelerate the composting process – light, heat, how compostable materials are stacked in a compost and the types of organisms involved in the degradation process – centipedes, cockroaches or worms.

 

Compostable materials should look as similarly as possible to soil, cardboard or brown paper. Although white (bleached) paper is compostable, the chlorine and other chemicals created in the process of whitening the paper will influence the health of your compost. In the case where you are sending your compostable material to a large facility, which may have some type of lining, you can be less concerned about how the degradation of bleached or chemically laden products affect the soil and possibly our water supply. In the case that you are composting at home, avoid composting (and therefore using white paper products) as this can affect your soil quality.