this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024
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I guess I’d say first that I don’t have anything on hand to do that with, and I have a lot of shop and garden tools.
If you can turn a skeleton into powder, it’ll no longer be recognizable as a skeleton. It has nothing much to do with composting though. It’s debatable whether the powder would undergo any chemical change by microorganisms. Eggshells for example go into a compost pile and ride along into the soil eventually where they make minerals available to plants, but eggshells don’t get significantly broken down by the composting microorganisms.
Isn’t bonemeal a pretty common soil additive?
Yes, soil additive, not composting material. That’s all I meant. I think the original question was could you compost a body and I said yes except the skeleton and then someone asked what if you grind it up and the answer is still you can’t really compost bone.
You can’t yourself, but if you heat the compost it’s possible.
Our city takes bones as well as dog and cat poo as well as a host of other stuff you can’t compost personally since it’s a heated above 55c and breaks down all that extra stuff.
Municipal compost is put through a tub grinder, which masticates everything to a fine degree. So even there, it’s not really the heat. They are just grinding it to the point where you can’t distinguish it from other bits of rock and silica in the soil.
Video: https://youtu.be/j_RXRqFB_bM?si=g2_1Pt99qIc9cq6g
Also, I’ve gotten my home compost over 160 degrees F which is considerably hotter. I mean the same pile that these bones have survived.
Municipal compost shouldn’t be accepting those items if it’s not heated since it doesn’t break down, nor does it kill pathogens off that can be deadly if used for vegetable gardens.
Linky
Heating it in specially designed containers with controlled environments is a little different than the center of the pile getting that hot for a few hours during a hot day.
It’s a stare of the art facility that’s brand new, they’re a little different than most other municipalities.
I’m not saying the facility doesn’t get hot. It is for sure hot. I’m saying it is not the heat that breaks down bones, but the masticators they use.
Without the heat it still takes months to years to break down, with the heat it can done in the 21 day cycle.
It’s a culmination of everything, which is why it’s not really possible to do yourself.
When I say my pile was 160 I do not mean for a few hours on a hot day as you said. It was over 140 for a period of 3 weeks and peaked at 160 for about 5 days. Bones came out of that intact.
Heat + bacteria will not make bones disappear in 21 days or 210 days.
Maybe read the resource I sent you? Thats factually incorrect, bones do break down, why do you think there’s not trillions of bones all over the earth right now? Because they break down…. The heat exacerbates the break down cycle from months and years to weeks. You lacked the right conditions, that’s why you still had bones, it’s not because they don’t break down, they do. YOU can’t do it, but it absolutely is possible dude.
You seriously think your anecdotal experience is proof when there’s lots of actual physical proof they do break down….? Seriously dude …?
And no, your pile wasn’t that hot, it’s physically impossible for the entire pile to be a consistent temperature throughout its entirety, that’s only the center of the pile. You need the entirely of the pile to be consistent temp for the right conditions. Which again, almost impossible to do without sealed containers and specialized equipment you can’t really get yourself. But you can.
The incredibly ironic thing is, too much heat also kills off the good bacteria… so yeah you really don’t k ow what you’re doing or why if you’re letting it get that hot in it’s core anyways.
Don’t start getting personal with me because you’re failing to prove your point. That is not called for. Your resource says Z E R O about bones. It DOES however back up what I SAID, which is that your commercial composting facility physically grinds up their material:
So yeah, before you get on your high horse with me again, maybe read the fucking resource yourself.
I’ve been composting for over a decade here. I do not think that my anecdotal experience overrides all, but if you think you posted scientific proof that solid bones break down at 50C within weeks, you absolutely did not.
I DO think that my decade of direct experience DOES override your bad guesses about what probably goes on at your city facility. Goodbye now. I’ve wasted enough time in this rabbit hole and the vibe is getting shitty in here.
Yes… I explained how shredding it is ONE part of the process…. And explained again how it requires all steps, not just one to be done quickly.
All you’ve repeated is it’s not possible, I’ve provided you with something that says otherwise and you’ve buried your head in the sand.
The resource literally has a video that shows you the entire facility and process, I’m sorry that your quite wrong conclusions about something natural can’t break down. Someone else also brought up bonemeal and you scuffawed at it. If it doesn’t break down to be be absorbed by plants, why the hell is it doing being added the soil fucking soil…?!?!?
The vibe is shitty because someone called out your bullshit and provided you resources to back it up and help educate yourself, and now you are mad to at you weren’t correct for the last decade.
Bones are biodegradable, you are told it’s not in compost since you can’t do it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. So I want to clarify before I throw a whopping amount of scientific literature at you.
You are seriously claiming that bones are NOT biodegradable…? and you want me to provide proof of this beyond what I already did? While the only thing you provided was a video on shredding mulch…. Do I have this right…?
We have incomplete fossils, what do you think happened to those bones if not broken down…?did the dinosaurs have shredders or something too lmfao.