On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 07:26:32 +0100, Michael Mcneil
wrote:

I did hear that garbage put in a swamp, south of New York, was recovered
for research several decades later and even newspapers had survived in
readable format.

Indeed. about six years ago, I was involved in a landfill borehole, and
orange peel and a newspaper from 1956 (I assume this paper was
contemporary, as combined with the [limited] landfill records this is a
correct date) which were remarkably well preserved. As the landfill was an
old gravel pit and a clay barrier was installed, I can only assume that
that is why no worms approached it. The swamp would have been anaerobic,
another good preservation regime.

So heat, damp and time are not everything to a compost bin, are they?

Air (more specifically oxygen) and the appropriate biota. Avocado skins
and eggshells tend to be difficult.

John Schmitt

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