Tuesday, April 12

Is hair really compostable?

The book that came with my composter says it is.

Every book, web-site, and article I have ever read about composting says it is.

Yet there it sits.
Intertwined in our beautiful composted soil.
Totally recognizable.
Totally unchanged.
Totally still hair.

I guess the real question I should be asking is How long does it take for hair to compost?

Apparently longer than all the other items we put into our composter.

Now I am faced with the question of what to do with this:

This is the bag that , much to my hubby's disgust, sits under our bathroom sink.

For the past couple of years now I have used this same bag to collect compostable material such as dead leafs, biodegradable wooden tooth picks and dental picks, dryer lint, and hair.
Lots and lots of hair.
Between my daughter and I there is never a shortage of "compostable" hair.

So now the question is what to do with that bag of compostable hair.

Do we keep composting it in our composter and ignore the strands of hair decorating the base of our tulips?

Do we put it in our compost pile and just keep piling debris over it?  (the out of sight out of mind approach)

Or do I throw it in the green bin for the professional compost facility to compost it?

I am not sure what to do with it?

While perusing the internet for my answer I came across this great link about composting.
How to make compost
Even though it says everything that I have read before I like the simplicity of the layout and bullet point instructions. It makes finding what you are looking for easy.

But alas, it does not answer my burning question: How long does it take for hair to compost?

5 comments:

Judy Jeute said...

I don't know how long it takes for hair to compost, but I know that there are places that you can donate that unwanted hair! Just start a new disgusting bag and check out my blog about recycling/donating hair, (not meant to be a plug, just can't remember all the links now-ha!). They can even make huge mats to clean up oil spills with it...Amazing.

Lori said...

Our dog looses massive amounts of hair and has since he was a puppy. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in the two years that we've had him, the hair has never gone away. It just piles up (to the point of me catching my kids last week gathering it and making it into a pillow).

Over Coffee - the green edition said...

Ewww! That's it Lori. You convinced me. The hair is going to the professional composters ;-)

Thanks for the info Royal Ranch! I love sharing info. I looked on your blog and found the post you were referring to. THe company is called Ottimat. Not sure if they take personal donations though. I have an e-mail into them to find out more! Thanks for the info!

MoonDog said...

My husband just works it into the garden and we never see it again. if it takes a long time...who cares its under the dirt and growing our veggies!

Over Coffee - the green edition said...

Thanks for the comment MoonDog! Maybe that is the key, to just work it into the soil more.