Such hot shit!

Thanks to Peggy and Jim at whose house we helped build a gorgeous salvaged-redwood three-bin compost system last Saturday, we are the lucky recipients of a big ole bag of shit from Peggy's sister's chickens. Joe added some in to our compost pile earlier this week, and now that baby is too hot, too hot to handle.  Literally.  It's 78 degrees out on this lovely Friday afternoon, and that pile is steaming as Joe's turning it.

Oh, what a difference some poop makes!

While our compost has been cooking all summer long, it's been relatively cool to the touch, packed with worms, but slow.  With this new addition, I am reminded to write about a project undertaken a little while ago: the Sunchips bag.

Way back on June 6th, we added an empty so-I'm-told-biodegradable Sunchips bag to the compost and started the clock.  The back of that super-crinkly packaging said it would break down to nothing in 13 weeks in a hot home compost pile.  Oh, really?  Since the 100%-compostable cornstarch spoon we got at The Scoop in Fairfax remains intact after at least four years in the compost, I was hopeful that this new claim would maybe be true.  The more truly compostable alternatives to plastic and non-biodegradable packaging the better.

So after 12 weeks, what is the result?

The Sunchips bag is in smaller pieces, largely thanks to being repeatedly pierced by the pitchfork as the pile's been turned at least 10 times since we started this little experiment.  Granted our compost hasn't been burning-hot, but still, I'm not so impressed.  

We'll keep turning and watching.  Maybe the chicken shit will prove stronger than the bullshit, and this biodegradable bag will prove to be more than just Earth Day eco-marketing.   That would really, really be great.  Fingers crossed, pitchfork at the ready.