The Internet’s collective colon was in a knot over recent reports of a McDonald’s fare that allegedly failed to decompose after 20 years, but McDonald’s maintains that its food — like any other food — ...

According to the U.S National Park Service, it takes a plastic bottle 450 years to decompose in the environment. Yes, that’s 450 years. That means that, if Shakespeare had a bottle of soda pop, that ...

(STACKER) — The phrase “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” comes from a common English Christian burial rite that includes the following King James Bible quote: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat ...

“Biodegradable” plastics exist, but they’re not so great at biodegrading. These polymers often take months or years to decompose, and even then can form potentially harmful microplastics. Now ...

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. Merriam-Webster defines “decompose” as “to separate into ...

Are the leaves piling up in your yard? You might want to think twice about trying to rake them away, experts say. Some experts have recommended for years that we leave the leaves where they land, and ...

It’s easy to forget about items after you throw them away, but the fact is, that item most likely isn’t going anywhere anytime fast. Truth is, some of the most common items you toss away on a daily ...

Once a person is dead, their body usually starts to decay immediately, although a good embalming job can delay decay. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

People have long wondered whether modern-day human corpses take longer to decompose due to the addition of preservatives in the food chain. The claim dates back to at least 1991, when an article was ...

There’s no trash can in sight, so you throw the peel of the banana you’ve just eaten on the ground to get rid of it. It’s fine, you think to yourself, it’ll decompose anyway. The many discarded banana ...

The word "decompose" means "to separate into constituent parts or elements or into simpler compounds," according to Merriam-Webster. Biodegradation is a similar process, but one that is defined by ...