Banana Skins

[BlueSkyNick]

Chuck 'em over the side (under way, not moored), or take them home in the rubbish?

 

[bdsweeting]

Take 'em home, not native to local waters.

 

[cgull]

What about condoms?

 

[Thistle]

Take them home, please. They take an amazingly long time to degrade.

 

[Deleted member 478]

I believe the same applies to orange/lemon/grapefruit skins.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

OK, so nothing wrong wih easily degradable stuff like apple cores, partially eaten sandwiches etc ?

There could be another point, whereby if we put them in the rubbish at home, they are going to pollute the planet anyway, so we might just as well throw them over the side in the first place.

 

[DJE]

[ QUOTE ]
They take an amazingly long time to degrade.

[/ QUOTE ]
But so do some types of sea weed, fish egg cases, cuttlefish bones, etc. Yet these all support a myriad of life in the strand lines on beaches. If it's biodegradable it's not going to do any long term harm.
Still we take ours home if we are less than about 10 miles off shore; then they end up in landfill. I suppose to be really green we should have compost heaps on board.

 

[Lakesailor]

[ QUOTE ]
I suppose to be really green we should have compost heaps on board.

[/ QUOTE ] You should see some on the boats on Windermere. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[BrendanS]

They will take far longer to decompose in the anaerobic conditions of a landfill site than they would left to decompose naturally. In most normal cirmcumstances banana, and citric fruit, skins, will decompose within a few months at most, usually much less

 

[Evadne]

I am puzzled by the times quoted by FoE et. al. about the two years it takes for things like banana and orange skins to decompose. We compost them at home and once they go into the heap they vanish in a few weeks, except for the little blue sticky labels. Maybe salt water is a preservative?

 

[BrendanS]

THey have an agenda, and use timings taken from worst case scenarios like top of mountains where banana skins will indeed decompose slowly. If left in the antartic, it could be frozen for centuries.

However, in normal every day practice, banana skins will decompose rapidly as you have witnessed, as will citrus fruit

 

[[3889]]

Why put a banana skin in a condom? Better before its peeled surely.

 

[KREW2]

Depends on how many you have 1 skin, 2 skins, 3 skins or more

 

[graham]

how about a full english breakfast making a reappearance due to Mal de Mer?

Cant see many folk bringing that home with them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously though I dont think its a case of polluting the planet if its a natural item rotting down.Just seems scruffy to me and if they wash up on a beach not very nice to look at.

 

[cgull]

A scientific friend of mine told me glass bottles are ok to chuck over as they decompose into silica .....

 

[BrendanS]

Inshore, like any other rock, yes, in time if pounded on a pebble beach, but nowhere near as quick as a banana skin. If not pounded on rocks, expect a few hundred years for it to decompose naturally