A 'how best to dispose of used tissues' argument

[MrsBadger]

if you put them in the bin they end up as landfill and never decompose

if you flush them down the loo they get treated with the sewage and might end up as useful fertiliser or might go to landfill anyway having used more energy in the process

views?

I burn in the winter

Can you compost them?

Compost heap?

burn in stove? can compost, too

deffo compost them

Use hankies?

I'm with the composters. They provide useful structure and extra bacteria for the heap!

I thought you weren't meant to compost them.

strangely, while I am quite happy to use reuseable nappies and all manner of other washable things, I can't bear hankies. Totally irrational I know. I think it's because I wasn't bought up to them, and it feels like blowing my nose on a napkin.

Out of interest, why not, 6inch?

Well I used to do it then read somewhere I wasn't allowed to because of spreading germs.
Happy to be told otherwise though.

[curious] Are tissues different from loo paper then? If something composts, why doesn't it biodegrade in a landfill?

Can't compost as don't have a garden and yard just fits wheelie bin in. Can't burn in stove as, well, it's ane lectric oven and landlord would complain bitterly.
Does the environmentalcost of washing hankies outweigh disposal?
STUPID QUESTION ALERT - why do tissues not decompose - thought they were made of paper?

Can you compost the lotion-impregnated tissues as well, or just the 'ordinary' tissues?

Ah, thanks. Suppose it depends where your compost heap is. Don't think ours would infect anyone who isn't a mouse or a toad.

um - they would decompose in landfill - just as they would in compost. I don't think it is a big deal either way - it is things that don't decompose (like plastic) that are the problem in landfill.

they'll block the loo and pipes if you flush them

No, things in landfill don't decompose properly even if they are biodegradable. I suppose the mix is wrong or the bacteria can't get the air they need or something.

I thought things don't decompose well in landfill bevcause there's not enough air - which is why compost bins often have holes in them and shouldn't be compacted but have a mixture of brown/dry and green/wet stuff.

isn't that baby wipes (that block the pipes I mean). Tissues are just the same as loo paper, aren't they?

Well, they are in this house. In fact round here they ARE loo paper, full stop. We are mean.

tissues landfilled in a black binbag won't degrade till the binbag does

and I thought there was some problem with degradation in landfills - the conditions aren't right cause it's too hot / insufficiently aerated / wrong kind of bacteria

will compost in the new house and continue using dd's muslins in the meantime

well ok - maybe they need air to decompose in the normal way - but they would still break down anearobically - they are cellulose after all.

loo paper disintegrates really quickly, tissue doesn't. i had to rod out the drains last year - blockage caused by tissues argh it was awful.

some councils have a council compost service - worth finding out if yours does?

Ours will even come and collect but for some odd reason they don't advertise it widely - you have to request a council compost crock, whereas you get a green packaging-type-stuff bin as standard.

they could end up decomposing to methane in landfill. In a home-compost heap the C in the tissue would go back to atmosphere as CO2, which is a much better result than going back into atmosphere as methane.

Southeastastra, that's very interesting! I shall flush with care in future. Well, at least I will when we are next extravagent and have kleenex