How long does it take for paper to biodegrade/decompose when it's buried in soil?

Question

I'm doing a school experiment report and I just need to know whether I would have enough time to do an experiment on what brands of a type of paper (e.g. paper towels, serviettes) are most biodegradable.
Thanks

Answer 1

It really depends on the quality and size of the paper.

Read here about biodegrading time periods:

http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/03/lp308-04.shtml

I compost and sometimes add ripped up newspaper to the soil... I would say it takes about 60-90 days to decompose.

If you are doing this for an experiment for class... I would say you would have a good chance of getting it done.

Try this out:

Get a plastic container, one of those Rubbermaid ones, large enough to add 40 pounds of soil. See image below:

http://www.enasco.com/prod/images/products/80/AC039850l.jpg

Buy a 40 pound bag of top soil (not potting soil. potting soil has vermiculite) and put it into the container.

Take a paper towel or newspaper and rip it into different sized pieces. (The smaller the pieces, the faster they will decompose)

Keep the lid off so there is air getting to it.

Spray the soil daily so it is moist. (do not over water, the soil should be moist, not damp or drenched)

Turn the soil daily.

*** you can even add dead plant material, or veggie scraps for fun

**** poke holes in the soil

You could even do multiple containers with different paper types and paper sizes.

You may also be interested in reading up on composting, click the link below:

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/Composters_082205.xml&catref=cat830029&page=2

Good luck and let me know how it goes!