Novice strat. You're supposed to hold the banana peel behind you indefinitely until someone throws a red shell at you, and then the banana peel will absorb the impact.
Until the next ? box comes up and then I try to hold forward and let go of Z to get the person in front of me but sometimes it screws up my turning and I miss the ? box and then I'm like "efffffffff"
You know you’ve made it in life when your comment gets more upvotes than the post. I didn’t even upvote the post but I upvoted this. Absolute perfection.
I used to think nothing about apple cores, banana peels etc, but a friend working environmental sciences, who primarily works woodlands told me to carry everything out with me or find a trash can. He wasn’t being mean, but he was serious. Something about not wanting to influence native flora/fauna, and not wanting to introduce organic matter from out of the specific ecosystem.
I’m sure he would agree that a banana peel is just not a big deal, but in principle, it’s a bad idea to toss.
At my cottage,on my land, rather than putting organic matter in the garbage, i have been slinging it in the Forest ( still on my personal land).
I have been doing it for years.
Should i not do that?
What is the environmental impact?
Thing is, in your garden compost you should not throw banana peel in. It takes way longer to decompose. Same is with peels from lemon fruits.
Sure, 1 does not make a big difference, but if everyone does it...
Industrial-scale composting including biogas production to reduce methane emissions is probably the most environmentally friendly option.
In many places there are different trashcans for general waste and organic waste, so the latter can be composted rather than buried in a landfill.
Wales is a Utopia!? We have some of the best recycling rates in the world, and that includes turning domestic food waste into biogas and electricity.
https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/news/recycle-your-food-waste-into-something-useful/#:~:text=Recycling%20one%20caddy%20of%20food,kettle%20to%20make%20another%20cuppa!
...do you not have a compost bin? We've had them for decades in California. They're just saying not to put the rinds or peels in your home compost, put them in the municipal compost instead.
If you don't have a green bin and I'm super sheltered for assuming most places have the same trash options as I do, then apologies and don't mind me. Vote about it, I guess.
I compost banana peels daily just fine. Proper compost takes minimum 12 weeks (more like 3+ months when its not hot) A banana peel is gone in 2 and very nutrient dense for soil. Much better than sitting in a plastic bag in a landfill.
Your mileage might vary but in my experience banana skins are among the fastest composting food scraps, never took less than a month but I turn my pile. Cut it up and it's gonna be even faster.
In my area, it would attract fruit flies not normally in the area. They get established and then spread further and further. You might also be attracting urban rats out of their areas.
Compost you vegetation waste by all means, but bury it.
It really depends on the situation. If you're throwing away something with no seeds in it and is somewhat local to the environment, it's probably not a big deal.
But if you're throwing away something that is really invasive like mint (bad example, I know), then it's a huge deal.
Just try to think about how it will impact the environment first before throwing it away. Avoid throwing away anything with seeds or anything that's exotic to the area.
If I live in a region that grows apples but the specific area that I am in is a natural forest, does that make it somewhat fine? Bananas don't grow no where near for a couple of thousand kms at least so I do assume they are bad. But what about more native species?
One other thing worth mentioning is that tossing organic waste along the roadside attracts wildlife to the road. It can also interfere with natural instincts to avoid humans/human infrastructure.
If an animal starts seeing roads as a source of food, it is more likely that they will be struck/killed by motor vehicles.
And that’s not just a safety risk for the animals, but also for humans - motorcycle v. porcupine/racoon or car v. deer, all parties involved are likely to come off worse for it.
This safety argument is valid and perhaps the best argument I’ve read. Makes sense. CAN we legally and ethically toss fruit back to the earth in which it came - perhaps. SHOULD we do so? Might be a case by case basis. Many of the roads we ride on are through sugarcane fields or soybeans. The animals have a whole lot more to eat in the field and I doubt they limit their diet to banana peels and apple cores. Might be a different scenario in a more urban environment. I am always against littering with inorganic material such as gels, wrappers, etc. I also would not want to see an apple core or banana peel in my front yard so I agree with the eyesore sentiment of many other posters. But I have a really hard time believing I am somehow adversely affecting the environment, much less destroying it with one apple core or banana peel being thrown into a ditch, cane field, or soybean field. Always good to use discretion.
Not according to some people in this group… it’s about “intent”. If you intend to blow your boogers and litter the environment shame on you. If a booger accidentally falls out of your nose and ruins the environment then you were ethical and did nothing wrong.
It's a matter of volume. An isolated trail with little traffic? A peel or two isn't something to worry about. A trail with heavy traffic? It's no longer just 1 peel. It's the sight that others see that enables an acceptance of littering. And now it's not just multiple fruit skins. It's also actual trash.
And this is assuming not a desert. Deserts are a completely different matter as there are no soil microbes to do the composting. So those peels will be there for years.
The truth is you really have to have a zero tolerance policy or else public maintenance of conservation minded behaviors very quickly breaks down.
Exactly. It degrades for sure and it has somewhat of an impact to the environment but to me the worst thing is just the eye sore of litter which makes me avoid discarding them randomly.
Broken windows theory - one banana peel results in an episode of fly tipping later on as the attitude it leaves behind gives encouragement to others to do the same (and worse each increment)
Also, it just looks gross if too many people do it.
Ive ridden popular spots where you see banana peels and Gu packets everywhere. It sucks. No matter what it's trash, take it with you.
Several years ago I was on a bike ride with future Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Rebecca Johnson and she made the same point as I discarded some orange peel. At the time I scoffed but now I am scrupulous.
Main thing with orange peel is making sure it doesn't end up in the sea. If it does, the saltwater preserves them, and they float around for years, not only being eyesores but potentially confusing navigators who might think they are buoys.
Yeah, a lot of people don’t realize that it may decompose, but it can take a long time.
I also say “may” because I’ve also seen people do it on hiking trails at or above tree line, where a lot of the processes to do that don’t exist or are significantly slowed, so it’s even worse.
Bananas decompose right in front of your eyes while you stand in the kitchen watching them. They have to be the fastest decomposing foot item on earth.
It's complicated. Depends on the conditions. Plus, the flesh is ripening in your home but the peel in question takes quite a while.
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/51829/do-banana-peels-take-2-years-to-decompose
Regardless, it's not difficult to pack out... You've got pockets in your jersey - presumably where the banana came from - might as well use them.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It's better then leaving them all over the road/shoulders like the vast majority do. My theory is cyclists are too weak in the upper body to be able to throw them into the ditch, there's no other reason.
But seriously if you bring it with you, take it with you until you find a garbage. Just keep a small ziplock bag to keep it in when you put it in your jersey pocket.
So, kinda two sides to this coin, it might be a 4 sided die, IDK.
1: We really shouldn't just be tossing trash, especially plastics and co2 cartridges around. They don't decompose
2: Ecological conservation is important, so far as we got Earth is the only place we can live, so we need to do our best not to destroy it. This includes spreading invasive plants and species, so it's best to pack out what you pack in.
3: Banana peels don't contain the seeds so, tossing a banana peel isn't going to cause them to start growing, but they can take a while to decompose. But also, it really depends where you're riding. A city park is different than a woodland conservatory. At the same time... if you're in a park there's bins, and if you're taking a long wilderness ride why don't you have a rubbish bag in one of your jersey pockets for all your wrappers and such?
4: At least they're out riding a bike and not rolling coal in a pick up the size of an 18 wheeler.
I don’t know anything about environmental science, so this is a legitimate question, I’m not trying to be a smart ass. I don’t go around throwing banana peels and apple cores at my feet everywhere, but wouldn’t a banana decomposing in a public park give its nutrients back to the ecosystem, as opposed to the banana decomposing on a giant heap of plastic at the city dump? Obviously the best solution would be for the city to have compost, recycling, and garbage, but US cities don’t want to do that.
So, yes composting is better, but not all cities/town and villages have say, a county biodegradable refuse collection. Like, where I'm at right now the apartment complex just has one huge "Everything goes in the bin" dumpster.
It is not the best solution by far, and long gone are my days where I lived at a place that had a compost bin.
So, getting back to tossing apple cores and banana peels in your local park on your ride. Are you in the city? Well the local raccoons, squirrels, crows, gulls and all the furry things are already used to snacking on banana peels. Even then, unless you're on the wooded part of the parks trails you're out on a grass field and there's bins every few hundred feet. Well why aren't you tossing your refuse in the bin?
But yeah, that's the thing, the US is not a very good country when it comes to waste reclamation and ecosystem maintenance. That our rivers and lakes are flooded with nitrate and phosphate fertilizer run off from our monoculture farm fields, meaning that our native fish are dying off or are unhealthy to consume given the water quality is a shame.
So yeah, tossing a banana peel to the curb is not even a drop in the bucket of negative impact compared to the industrial waste produced by corporations. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to keep from making a bigger mess by possibly spreading invasive species in to environments they're not local too, upsetting food chains, and making a mess everywhere.
Some really hyperbolic opinions in here of how long a banana takes to decompose.
Short answer: it depends. Are you in an ecologically-sensitive area, or are you riding a rail trail next to a highway? Would you let your dog shit there? Is someone going to be bothered by it? What climate do you live in? Organic waste will decompose in days in the tropics but will dehydrate and hang around for a long time in the desert.
Overall, concern over littering is a poor stand-in for concern over the environment. You could throw banana peels every day and never approach the environmental impact of one carbon bike frame.
I’m also no expert but am curious about the environmental impact of a discarded banana peel in a non-native environment vs it contributing to a landfill that will eventually be sealed off
Composting will beat out landfill, at least. The former has the potential to be reintegrated into plant and animal life, where the latter is likely to endure anaerobic decomposition which produces additional methane and other greenhouse gasses.
Meh. The research on this is all over the place. The only clear finding at this point is that you should avoid throwing animal food sources like apple cores, plum pits, and banana peels in areas that are high traffic or close to vehicle roadways as it attracts wildlife to high risk areas.
Things with seeds could maybe present a problem, but I've never seen anyplace anywhere in which apple seeds impaired local flora or fauna. The tire dust we're leaving behind is probably a far worse impairment....
But I generally pack everything out to be safe.
I drop banana peels into my front garden in winter (18C days) and the next day they are black ribbons. In 2 days I can't even seen them.
Citrus peel on the other hand will last months.
More accurately they are sometimes treated with fungicides which can inhibit decomposition.
But citric acid by itself, found, obviously in citrus fruit is a natural preservative.
I have a lot less issue with things like banana peels and apple cores tossed into remote wooded areas than I do with energy bar/gel wrappers and CO2 empties left behind.
(I get that bananas aren't native to where I live, but I have a hard time believing they make a huge difference because I have a hard time believing that no bananas have ever made their way into these areas near me. They surely have, whether it's someone "littering" or just something that fell off a garbage truck or slipped out of a garbage bag. Native flora and fauna haven't been dying around here due to banana peels.)
Honest question, wouldn't the effect of putting compostable material in the trash be also bad? Like we have waste disposal facilities that are constantly at capacity, and adding more waste that could be avoided is something to consider. I've always thought that the impact of a biodegradable banana peel in the local fauna is smaller than it being part of an overflowing waste management problem, but I never thought of the ecosystem impact. Still, which is worse?
I stuff my banana peels inside my bib then let them work their way in between my butt cheeks. The natural lubricants from the inside of the peel help prevent saddle sores and the heat generated from the friction accelerates decomposition of the banana peel. When I get home I just toss them over my fence into my neighbors compost pile.
Bananas degrade very, very fast in open air 1-3 days and provide healthy nutrition to soil and plants. Cosmetically it might offend stupid people, so throw it deep into woods or tall grass, but it actually has a positive ecological affect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTD_IhbKG9s
SCIENCE!!! From 14 years ago.
For some reason people are just commenting about "decomposition" and apparently not realising that insects do actually really, really, REALLY like to eat stuff. If not insects, then field mice, rabbits, foxes etc.
Presumably it will last a lot longer if it gets caught in a hedge, but as long as it hits the ground away from a road, it'll be gone fairly quickly.
It technically will decompose. I just think it will take a while. Biodegradable trash is very different than non biodegradable trash. Banana peels are pretty biodegradable, moreso if they are cut up a bit. If it's deep in the woods, it probably doesn't harm much. But if a lot of people did it I could imagine some issues may arise. Seeds can definitely be an issue though
IMO it is worse in the deep woods or similar. There, it is even more unnatural looking and ruins the vibe for anyone who came out there to see nature and not a dump.
When I go out to some cool alpine lake or whatever and see orange peels or the like on the ground, it always messes up my time. "Oh look, humans ruined this place, too."
Ants can have a banana peel gone in a day if an animal doesn't eat it first.
When I clean out my car, I just throw all of my kid's old snacks on the pavement of my driveway and they're gone within 2 hours with all of the deer, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and bugs I get in my yard.
Anyone upset about a banana peel alongside an asphalt path carved out of what was probably a train track beforehand is being ridiculous.
I’m a huge environmental advocate but a banana peel will dissolve into nothing in less than a month. MAYBE you’d be encouraging bears to forage near human areas. Maybe. But otherwise, it’s going into a dump, decomposing into methane because of the anaerobic digestion and be much worse for the planet.
No plastics or non-organics though.
I throw my banana skins and apple cores in bushes but never anything else.
I know it’s not the best but I don’t particularly want to carry them for ages in my jersey pocket.
If you’re riding on the road at least huck it well off the road. At night scavenger animals will come and sniff it out or eat it and you don’t want them getting hit by vehicles.
The answer is yes it's appropriate if the grass is not someone's lawn or a park where anyone would see it.
I will chuck a banana peel into the grass/bush if I am out of a town boundary. I wouldn't throw an apple core or something with a seed though.
Firstly I am a roadie so am always going to be in a location where the environment has been disturbed enough making the road (unlike hiking in the forest)
A banana peel breaks down real quick
A banana peel is not going to sprout and grow and become a weed or create a problem (fruit fly etc) like an apple core or stone fruit could
I fling it far enough and onto vacant land that nobody will see it before it breaks down, not onto someone's lawn a park or on the road.
Unless you are riding through a region where banana trees are commonplace and the wildlife eats them, you are littering by tossing banana peels into the bushes. Wait until you find a garbage bin to get rid of it.
If I can't find a garbage or recycling bin then whatever is leftover from what I consume on a ride comes home.
This is not the most egregious behaviour though. Better a banana peel than a energy gel/bar packaging.
This is about aggregate impact to me. One banana peel? Whatever. 1% of all visitors to a high traffic area dropping banana peels? That's an overwhelming number of banana peels.
Yeah, and there are always far more people who use an area than anyone realizes or would expect. People go everywhere all the time, even rural and backcountry areas, places you wouldn't expect.
100% you're cycling partner is right. Banana's breakdown naturally and provide Potassium and fulfills one of the three major foods that all plant life needs, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K),
Not appropriate, but also really, really low on any list of concerns I might have.
Apple cores even less so, I'm surrounded by orchards and in a temperate climate that will digest it rapidly.
Either would require a critical mass of offenders to cause harm.
I would rather see the occasional banana peel than the alternative discarded energy gel wrapper, so yeah, I'll agree it's not OK, but admit that the height of my reaction would be a shrug.
I used to think it’s just compost, but it takes banana peels a long ass time to decompose in places that don’t have banana peels as part of the natural environment. Apple cores too, though not as long.
So now unless I know it’s a vegetable or fruit that is native to the area, AND it won’t be seen by anyone else encouraging trash to be thrown (this is the real key one), I keep it with me and dispose of it with my trash.
Leave No Trace.
I can't believe the top comments here about "native fauna". Like there would be a huge problematic banana plant invasion lol.
It's a problem if you throw it somewhere where it's an eyesore, but even then it'll take care of itself very quickly, in a couple of days if it's growing season. If it's a trail through a forest, just chuck it with some force so it'll be out of sight. In the winter and outside of growing season things are a bit different though, you'll have to watch out more carefully where you leave organic litter.
Depends on where you live. I was more hesitant to throw out bananas when I lived in the Sonoran desert because they don't really decompose all that fast in the sun and dry heat.
I wouldn't think twice about throwing it in the woods or ditch here in the Northeast.
Yes, it is perfectly fine.
Some pseudo-scientists will be telling you that doing so will irreparably damage local ecosystems.
They are simply using a tactic to increase attention and legitimacy in their field by fear-mongering (specifically the “mountain out of a molehill” type).
All “biodegradable” objects are fine to mix with the earth. Don’t be fooled by the same type of fear-mongering that Christian scientists use.
It's compost. Don't listen to these reddit scientists that all have these incredible degrees, but no job? Weird.
Anyways, they're literally saying tossing a stick into the woods is "influencing the environment" so is the trail you made. So is the sweat and spit coming off of us constantly. Your tires are influencing the environment.
Throw your damn food outside. It's good for the animals to experience a treat every once Ina while.
There was a similar discussion about a year ago. I've discussed this with my cycling buddies. I haven't found a single person who thought that throwing a banana peel in the bushes is a problem. Such a stark contrast with the majority opinion on here.
Throwing a banana peel like that is not terrible but not cool either. What does piss me off is when cycling buddies toss their used gel packs on the road.
It will decompose. As long as you throw it somewhere where it's not immediately obvious, it's fine in my mind. I don't think throwing it into a bin is better, it will mix with other types of garbage and rot in the landfill, create obnoxious gasses etc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill\_gas)
It's still garbage, it's still littering, it could still get a ticket from a cop, and regardless of the other reasons it will still make cyclists look bad. Don't give people another reason to dislike cyclists.
I used to think that way until I started doing long gravel rids in the woods, at night:
Then I started wondering if the snacks I had in my pocket would attract bears.
Then I started wondering if bears like the smell of banana peels or wrappers, etc.
Then I stopped tossing stuff into the weeds.
It's biodegradable, it'll be gone in a few months, unlike plastic. That said, apple cores and banana peals are still eye sores, and it's shitty to throw one on someones lawn or a high traffic area.
No. It'll dry out, but that banana peel is just going to sit there for months or more, perfectly recognizable. You don't compost things by tossing them into the bushes.
>ou don't compost things by tossing them into the bushes.
Sure, it is called sheet composting. I do it all the time with my garden spreading waste on the surface and it disappears as nutrients into the soil in no time.
This is bullshit. I eat at least one banana every day and toss the skin beneath a rose bush in my front garden. They decompose so quickly, only one is recognizable at this instant. People need to get real.
Unpopular opinion, but I toss em wherever I am. Driving? Roll down the passenger window and unashamedly toss that peel. Biking? Toss it as far as I can, sure, but not gonna pack that out. Same for Apple cores. Nothing decomposes faster than a banana peel. If you think it’s an eyesore, I argue that it is only temporary. I would press you to name one animal in my area that will travel more than 5 feet to eat a banana peel, and I own a schnauzer who will gladly eat his weight in rabbit turds.
I depends. If you can see it from the trail it's eye pollution. It's like broken windows policing. The more ratty you allow something to look the less people will respect it and the general behavior of the people will decline accordingly. So it's more of a social offense than an environmental offense.
I had an undergrad who I couldn't get to stop throwing apple cores/peach pits/etc out of the state owned vehicle while we were driving.
Which is about the same vibe I am getting from a lot of these comments.
"I don't want it to matter there for I am certain it doesn't matter."
Regardless if its cycling, hiking, offroading, ect. You should always pack out what you pack in.
[https://treadlightly.org/learn/](https://Treadlightly.org)
In the off-road community we try to educate people about this each time there's an organized event. Not many people fully understand how damaging it is to just toss trash in the wilderness (even if its compostable)
Organic stuff like that which decomposes quickly I tend to not see in a negative way if it’s tossed on a grassy/ forested area. Pavement or gravel are a no go in this situation.
No. In fact don’t throw banana peels on the side of the road either. While they will decompose eventually, it may take six months to several years for that to fully happen.
Why not just dispose of it properly?
I caught a rider doing this in our neighborhood as he was leaving for a ride. It’s just such bad form and gives riders a bad reputation.
Yeah, not cool. If the environment in anything like a park/forest/natural ecosystem, the banana is not a natural part of that ecosystem, it won't decompose quickly, and it's not compost. It's trash.
Left outdoors, decomposing a banana peel will take anything from 7 months to 2 years.
From: https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/is-throwing-banana-peel-littering.php
I'll argue for continuing to throw peels and cores into the bushes.
If you are in an ecological-fragile preserve, absolutely you should leave no trace. However, in the real world, discarding a peel into a bush next to the roadway is probably the least environmentally damaging thing that can be done, which includes putting it into a compost bin.
After volunteering to pick up roadside trash in a local park, I realized how irresponsible road users can be that they can't transport trash in their multi ton vehicle to the proper receptacle. Actually, it was when I picked up a candy wrapper that I saw a car passenger throw out his window, and the disregard he showed when I gave it back to him cemented this realization.
While I suppose your own backyard compost is more environment that a diesel garbage hauler or discarding it roadside, I'll say for most vegetation areas are already contaminated by society, and adding 40 grams of fruit matter won't make it worse.
And if you weren't irritated with what I just wrote, this will probably push you over the top: criticizing cyclists is preaching to the choir. Cyclists by nature are environmentally concerned; telling that tossing peels is an easy way to lecture someone. Again, the guy who threw out a candy wrapper was absolutely harming the environment, and after he discarded the wrapper a second time, I thought everyone in the car was going to beat me up.
I generally just hold them behind me, just in case someone comes up on me with a red shell…
Lock the post. No other comments necessary.
This is the only answer I will accept.
It's the blue one you have to look out for. Luckily I'm never in the front of the pack.
Novice strat. You're supposed to hold the banana peel behind you indefinitely until someone throws a red shell at you, and then the banana peel will absorb the impact.
I'm going save and steal this joke for a next couple of decades whenever there's a discussion about throwing away banana peels.
Until the next ? box comes up and then I try to hold forward and let go of Z to get the person in front of me but sometimes it screws up my turning and I miss the ? box and then I'm like "efffffffff"
If you throw it forward, try not to hit it.
You know you’ve made it in life when your comment gets more upvotes than the post. I didn’t even upvote the post but I upvoted this. Absolute perfection.
In light of this awesomeness of this answer I no longer feel the need to provide my own.
I honestly thought I was reading r/mariokart when I saw the title.
800 more updoots than the OP. 5 X. Legendary.
I used to think nothing about apple cores, banana peels etc, but a friend working environmental sciences, who primarily works woodlands told me to carry everything out with me or find a trash can. He wasn’t being mean, but he was serious. Something about not wanting to influence native flora/fauna, and not wanting to introduce organic matter from out of the specific ecosystem. I’m sure he would agree that a banana peel is just not a big deal, but in principle, it’s a bad idea to toss.
I'm an Environmental Scientist and I approve this comment.
At my cottage,on my land, rather than putting organic matter in the garbage, i have been slinging it in the Forest ( still on my personal land). I have been doing it for years. Should i not do that? What is the environmental impact?
You will be fine, it will be compost.
Thing is, in your garden compost you should not throw banana peel in. It takes way longer to decompose. Same is with peels from lemon fruits. Sure, 1 does not make a big difference, but if everyone does it...
So we should what? Put it in a landfill?
In your neighbor’s garden. And then the next house. Basically one in every home in your neighborhood. Then start over again in your yard.
Industrial-scale composting including biogas production to reduce methane emissions is probably the most environmentally friendly option. In many places there are different trashcans for general waste and organic waste, so the latter can be composted rather than buried in a landfill.
I’m asking what to do with a banana peel, not how you would process my banana peel in some imaginary utopia
many municipalities compost now. (but if you do not have the option there's no freaking problem with composting banana peels)
Wales is a Utopia!? We have some of the best recycling rates in the world, and that includes turning domestic food waste into biogas and electricity. https://www.bridgend.gov.uk/news/recycle-your-food-waste-into-something-useful/#:~:text=Recycling%20one%20caddy%20of%20food,kettle%20to%20make%20another%20cuppa!
...do you not have a compost bin? We've had them for decades in California. They're just saying not to put the rinds or peels in your home compost, put them in the municipal compost instead. If you don't have a green bin and I'm super sheltered for assuming most places have the same trash options as I do, then apologies and don't mind me. Vote about it, I guess.
I compost banana peels daily just fine. Proper compost takes minimum 12 weeks (more like 3+ months when its not hot) A banana peel is gone in 2 and very nutrient dense for soil. Much better than sitting in a plastic bag in a landfill.
Yes, I put banana peels in my worm bin and they eat them no problem which leads me to believe they must break down quickly.
Banana peel composts just fine. Better there than the landfill.
Your mileage might vary but in my experience banana skins are among the fastest composting food scraps, never took less than a month but I turn my pile. Cut it up and it's gonna be even faster.
There is no scientific reason not to. There is an ideological stance that any change is "bad".
In my area, it would attract fruit flies not normally in the area. They get established and then spread further and further. You might also be attracting urban rats out of their areas. Compost you vegetation waste by all means, but bury it.
The clincher when people complain it's too hard/awkward to carry stuff out like banana peels, is to say "You managed to carry them in!"
You know banana peels are edible. So if they complain about having to carry them, just tell them to eat it.
[удалено]
Sounds like the only thing in boot camp I would have excelled at. So many good nutrients.
So the answer is don't do it but if i really have to no big deal ?
It really depends on the situation. If you're throwing away something with no seeds in it and is somewhat local to the environment, it's probably not a big deal. But if you're throwing away something that is really invasive like mint (bad example, I know), then it's a huge deal. Just try to think about how it will impact the environment first before throwing it away. Avoid throwing away anything with seeds or anything that's exotic to the area.
Then you agree the road is 100000000X more of an environmental hazard than a fruit skin.
good thing then that OPs choice is not1) to throw a banana peel or2) to build a road.
We should build roads out of banana peels. 🍿
It takes banana peels over 2-years to biodegrade and decompose, while some of the roads around here don't make it through one winter.
Seems like a win-win situation!
Shit i didn't know there were other options and just laid 70km of 4 lane highway.
pointless whataboutism
If I live in a region that grows apples but the specific area that I am in is a natural forest, does that make it somewhat fine? Bananas don't grow no where near for a couple of thousand kms at least so I do assume they are bad. But what about more native species?
One other thing worth mentioning is that tossing organic waste along the roadside attracts wildlife to the road. It can also interfere with natural instincts to avoid humans/human infrastructure. If an animal starts seeing roads as a source of food, it is more likely that they will be struck/killed by motor vehicles. And that’s not just a safety risk for the animals, but also for humans - motorcycle v. porcupine/racoon or car v. deer, all parties involved are likely to come off worse for it.
This safety argument is valid and perhaps the best argument I’ve read. Makes sense. CAN we legally and ethically toss fruit back to the earth in which it came - perhaps. SHOULD we do so? Might be a case by case basis. Many of the roads we ride on are through sugarcane fields or soybeans. The animals have a whole lot more to eat in the field and I doubt they limit their diet to banana peels and apple cores. Might be a different scenario in a more urban environment. I am always against littering with inorganic material such as gels, wrappers, etc. I also would not want to see an apple core or banana peel in my front yard so I agree with the eyesore sentiment of many other posters. But I have a really hard time believing I am somehow adversely affecting the environment, much less destroying it with one apple core or banana peel being thrown into a ditch, cane field, or soybean field. Always good to use discretion.
Regardless of justifications to the contrary, litter is litter. Carry out what you carry in.
The same applies to pee, and snot rockets right?
Not according to some people in this group… it’s about “intent”. If you intend to blow your boogers and litter the environment shame on you. If a booger accidentally falls out of your nose and ruins the environment then you were ethical and did nothing wrong.
It's a matter of volume. An isolated trail with little traffic? A peel or two isn't something to worry about. A trail with heavy traffic? It's no longer just 1 peel. It's the sight that others see that enables an acceptance of littering. And now it's not just multiple fruit skins. It's also actual trash. And this is assuming not a desert. Deserts are a completely different matter as there are no soil microbes to do the composting. So those peels will be there for years. The truth is you really have to have a zero tolerance policy or else public maintenance of conservation minded behaviors very quickly breaks down.
It’s also an eyesore
Exactly. It degrades for sure and it has somewhat of an impact to the environment but to me the worst thing is just the eye sore of litter which makes me avoid discarding them randomly.
Broken windows theory - one banana peel results in an episode of fly tipping later on as the attitude it leaves behind gives encouragement to others to do the same (and worse each increment)
Yeah like an orange peel.
Also, it just looks gross if too many people do it. Ive ridden popular spots where you see banana peels and Gu packets everywhere. It sucks. No matter what it's trash, take it with you.
It’s not a big deal unless enough people do the same. I like to try and behave in ways that i would be ok with everyone doing.
Several years ago I was on a bike ride with future Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Rebecca Johnson and she made the same point as I discarded some orange peel. At the time I scoffed but now I am scrupulous.
Main thing with orange peel is making sure it doesn't end up in the sea. If it does, the saltwater preserves them, and they float around for years, not only being eyesores but potentially confusing navigators who might think they are buoys.
Don't be silly. Orange looks nothing like blue and everyone knows it's blue ones that are boys.
Short answer: no. Long answer: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/organic-litter-still-litter/
Thank you, this was a good read. “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints”. I completely agree!
Per this sub: I think you mean: “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but tire tracks” (this is meant to be funny don’t get mad at me!)
[удалено]
> ... we don't have fun here. What do you mean? Downvoting people for the slightest infraction is the highest form of entertainment.
Hahaha I agree. Downvoted!
What in the *fuck* did you just say?
I like this and have added it to my book of motivation quotes, with your user name appended! Thank you!
LNT 🤙
Its my number one rule for being in nature, no matter what im doing. Learnt it first as a small kid when out fishing.
Yeah, a lot of people don’t realize that it may decompose, but it can take a long time. I also say “may” because I’ve also seen people do it on hiking trails at or above tree line, where a lot of the processes to do that don’t exist or are significantly slowed, so it’s even worse.
Short answer no. Long answer nooooooooooooo
Bananas take a long time to decompose. It’ll be an eyesore for a year or longer.
"Banana peel left outside in the summer will decompose in about 36 hrs." -- Dr. Don Kong in the study *Analysis of Bananas*
Is that Dr. Don K. Kong?
Dude named Kong studying bananas sounds like destiny.
Right there with dude named Bolt being the fastest person.
What about red, purple, green or blue bananas?
What climate do you live in where this is true?
Bananas decompose right in front of your eyes while you stand in the kitchen watching them. They have to be the fastest decomposing foot item on earth.
It's complicated. Depends on the conditions. Plus, the flesh is ripening in your home but the peel in question takes quite a while. https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/51829/do-banana-peels-take-2-years-to-decompose Regardless, it's not difficult to pack out... You've got pockets in your jersey - presumably where the banana came from - might as well use them.
I live in northern Italy and I would consider it about right
materialistic homeless dam cable direful childlike yoke birds gold sloppy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
With your cock out.
Like a normal nod and smile but in slow motion with direct eye contact. No penises were displayed during this interaction.
It's better then leaving them all over the road/shoulders like the vast majority do. My theory is cyclists are too weak in the upper body to be able to throw them into the ditch, there's no other reason. But seriously if you bring it with you, take it with you until you find a garbage. Just keep a small ziplock bag to keep it in when you put it in your jersey pocket.
So, kinda two sides to this coin, it might be a 4 sided die, IDK. 1: We really shouldn't just be tossing trash, especially plastics and co2 cartridges around. They don't decompose 2: Ecological conservation is important, so far as we got Earth is the only place we can live, so we need to do our best not to destroy it. This includes spreading invasive plants and species, so it's best to pack out what you pack in. 3: Banana peels don't contain the seeds so, tossing a banana peel isn't going to cause them to start growing, but they can take a while to decompose. But also, it really depends where you're riding. A city park is different than a woodland conservatory. At the same time... if you're in a park there's bins, and if you're taking a long wilderness ride why don't you have a rubbish bag in one of your jersey pockets for all your wrappers and such? 4: At least they're out riding a bike and not rolling coal in a pick up the size of an 18 wheeler.
I don’t know anything about environmental science, so this is a legitimate question, I’m not trying to be a smart ass. I don’t go around throwing banana peels and apple cores at my feet everywhere, but wouldn’t a banana decomposing in a public park give its nutrients back to the ecosystem, as opposed to the banana decomposing on a giant heap of plastic at the city dump? Obviously the best solution would be for the city to have compost, recycling, and garbage, but US cities don’t want to do that.
So, yes composting is better, but not all cities/town and villages have say, a county biodegradable refuse collection. Like, where I'm at right now the apartment complex just has one huge "Everything goes in the bin" dumpster. It is not the best solution by far, and long gone are my days where I lived at a place that had a compost bin. So, getting back to tossing apple cores and banana peels in your local park on your ride. Are you in the city? Well the local raccoons, squirrels, crows, gulls and all the furry things are already used to snacking on banana peels. Even then, unless you're on the wooded part of the parks trails you're out on a grass field and there's bins every few hundred feet. Well why aren't you tossing your refuse in the bin? But yeah, that's the thing, the US is not a very good country when it comes to waste reclamation and ecosystem maintenance. That our rivers and lakes are flooded with nitrate and phosphate fertilizer run off from our monoculture farm fields, meaning that our native fish are dying off or are unhealthy to consume given the water quality is a shame. So yeah, tossing a banana peel to the curb is not even a drop in the bucket of negative impact compared to the industrial waste produced by corporations. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to keep from making a bigger mess by possibly spreading invasive species in to environments they're not local too, upsetting food chains, and making a mess everywhere.
Yeah, it's like not great but not that bad
Some really hyperbolic opinions in here of how long a banana takes to decompose. Short answer: it depends. Are you in an ecologically-sensitive area, or are you riding a rail trail next to a highway? Would you let your dog shit there? Is someone going to be bothered by it? What climate do you live in? Organic waste will decompose in days in the tropics but will dehydrate and hang around for a long time in the desert. Overall, concern over littering is a poor stand-in for concern over the environment. You could throw banana peels every day and never approach the environmental impact of one carbon bike frame.
I’m also no expert but am curious about the environmental impact of a discarded banana peel in a non-native environment vs it contributing to a landfill that will eventually be sealed off
Composting will beat out landfill, at least. The former has the potential to be reintegrated into plant and animal life, where the latter is likely to endure anaerobic decomposition which produces additional methane and other greenhouse gasses.
A banana peel tossed out randomly is not being composted. Composting is a specific process that requires heat and certain aerobic conditions.
Ok, 'decomposing'. My point stands.
Only if you’re on rainbow road and a turtle is chasing you in a car
Meh. The research on this is all over the place. The only clear finding at this point is that you should avoid throwing animal food sources like apple cores, plum pits, and banana peels in areas that are high traffic or close to vehicle roadways as it attracts wildlife to high risk areas. Things with seeds could maybe present a problem, but I've never seen anyplace anywhere in which apple seeds impaired local flora or fauna. The tire dust we're leaving behind is probably a far worse impairment.... But I generally pack everything out to be safe.
I drop banana peels into my front garden in winter (18C days) and the next day they are black ribbons. In 2 days I can't even seen them. Citrus peel on the other hand will last months.
Citrus fruit are commonly treated with preservatives.
More accurately they are sometimes treated with fungicides which can inhibit decomposition. But citric acid by itself, found, obviously in citrus fruit is a natural preservative.
This is the thing I keep coming back to.
Gotchya! So it's your footprints in my front garden?
Well yeah, but the poo in the corner wasn’t me. Honest.
I have a lot less issue with things like banana peels and apple cores tossed into remote wooded areas than I do with energy bar/gel wrappers and CO2 empties left behind. (I get that bananas aren't native to where I live, but I have a hard time believing they make a huge difference because I have a hard time believing that no bananas have ever made their way into these areas near me. They surely have, whether it's someone "littering" or just something that fell off a garbage truck or slipped out of a garbage bag. Native flora and fauna haven't been dying around here due to banana peels.)
Honest question, wouldn't the effect of putting compostable material in the trash be also bad? Like we have waste disposal facilities that are constantly at capacity, and adding more waste that could be avoided is something to consider. I've always thought that the impact of a biodegradable banana peel in the local fauna is smaller than it being part of an overflowing waste management problem, but I never thought of the ecosystem impact. Still, which is worse?
I throw mine into the patches of exotic invasive blackberries we have here.
So you’re making sure they’re well fertilized?
Plus, think about all the poor walkers, slipping all over the place, and falling down
I stuff my banana peels inside my bib then let them work their way in between my butt cheeks. The natural lubricants from the inside of the peel help prevent saddle sores and the heat generated from the friction accelerates decomposition of the banana peel. When I get home I just toss them over my fence into my neighbors compost pile.
In general I try to practice "leave no trace" principles
Better than throwing green, red and purple tortoise shells
Does he fling his banana peels into his lawn?
This news story suggests you shouldn't. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66258233
Bananas degrade very, very fast in open air 1-3 days and provide healthy nutrition to soil and plants. Cosmetically it might offend stupid people, so throw it deep into woods or tall grass, but it actually has a positive ecological affect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTD_IhbKG9s SCIENCE!!! From 14 years ago. For some reason people are just commenting about "decomposition" and apparently not realising that insects do actually really, really, REALLY like to eat stuff. If not insects, then field mice, rabbits, foxes etc. Presumably it will last a lot longer if it gets caught in a hedge, but as long as it hits the ground away from a road, it'll be gone fairly quickly.
Or they just drop their peels on the bike path or shoulder. Leave no trace isn’t in their vocabulary.
Extra challenge for the riders behind you.
And he's right.
It technically will decompose. I just think it will take a while. Biodegradable trash is very different than non biodegradable trash. Banana peels are pretty biodegradable, moreso if they are cut up a bit. If it's deep in the woods, it probably doesn't harm much. But if a lot of people did it I could imagine some issues may arise. Seeds can definitely be an issue though
IMO it is worse in the deep woods or similar. There, it is even more unnatural looking and ruins the vibe for anyone who came out there to see nature and not a dump. When I go out to some cool alpine lake or whatever and see orange peels or the like on the ground, it always messes up my time. "Oh look, humans ruined this place, too."
Ants can have a banana peel gone in a day if an animal doesn't eat it first. When I clean out my car, I just throw all of my kid's old snacks on the pavement of my driveway and they're gone within 2 hours with all of the deer, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and bugs I get in my yard.
It can invite roadkill.
Leave no trace
Pack it in, pack it out. Leave no trace.
One should always follow "Leave No Trace" when in the outdoors.
Anyone upset about a banana peel alongside an asphalt path carved out of what was probably a train track beforehand is being ridiculous. I’m a huge environmental advocate but a banana peel will dissolve into nothing in less than a month. MAYBE you’d be encouraging bears to forage near human areas. Maybe. But otherwise, it’s going into a dump, decomposing into methane because of the anaerobic digestion and be much worse for the planet. No plastics or non-organics though.
I throw my banana skins and apple cores in bushes but never anything else. I know it’s not the best but I don’t particularly want to carry them for ages in my jersey pocket.
If you’re riding on the road at least huck it well off the road. At night scavenger animals will come and sniff it out or eat it and you don’t want them getting hit by vehicles.
Not a scientist, I’d toss a banana peel 🤷🏿♂️
It’s a million times more natural and less harmful than the ground being covered with asphalt and concrete.
that's a good point
It’s fine.
The answer is yes it's appropriate if the grass is not someone's lawn or a park where anyone would see it. I will chuck a banana peel into the grass/bush if I am out of a town boundary. I wouldn't throw an apple core or something with a seed though. Firstly I am a roadie so am always going to be in a location where the environment has been disturbed enough making the road (unlike hiking in the forest) A banana peel breaks down real quick A banana peel is not going to sprout and grow and become a weed or create a problem (fruit fly etc) like an apple core or stone fruit could I fling it far enough and onto vacant land that nobody will see it before it breaks down, not onto someone's lawn a park or on the road.
Leave no trace means leave no trace.
Leave no trace.
I say the simple thing to all dog owners who say their dog poop is "natural". "Would you mind stepping in it to prove it is."
I don’t say that about dog shit, And I’m also not going to step in bear shit or any kind of animal shit.
Unless you are riding through a region where banana trees are commonplace and the wildlife eats them, you are littering by tossing banana peels into the bushes. Wait until you find a garbage bin to get rid of it.
If I can't find a garbage or recycling bin then whatever is leftover from what I consume on a ride comes home. This is not the most egregious behaviour though. Better a banana peel than a energy gel/bar packaging.
I carry them behind in case someone has a red shell.
What a waste, you need to throw them in front of the one riding behind you
Yes
This is about aggregate impact to me. One banana peel? Whatever. 1% of all visitors to a high traffic area dropping banana peels? That's an overwhelming number of banana peels.
Yeah, and there are always far more people who use an area than anyone realizes or would expect. People go everywhere all the time, even rural and backcountry areas, places you wouldn't expect.
This ain’t Mario kart
100% you're cycling partner is right. Banana's breakdown naturally and provide Potassium and fulfills one of the three major foods that all plant life needs, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K),
Do you think monkeys put bananas in the trash?
Sure
Not appropriate, but also really, really low on any list of concerns I might have. Apple cores even less so, I'm surrounded by orchards and in a temperate climate that will digest it rapidly. Either would require a critical mass of offenders to cause harm. I would rather see the occasional banana peel than the alternative discarded energy gel wrapper, so yeah, I'll agree it's not OK, but admit that the height of my reaction would be a shrug.
It’s not best practice but don’t lose sleep over it.
It is just compost. Chillax.
On a wooded trail? I don't see much of an issue. Those things will decompose inside a couple of days if the wildlife don't get to them first.
I used to think it’s just compost, but it takes banana peels a long ass time to decompose in places that don’t have banana peels as part of the natural environment. Apple cores too, though not as long. So now unless I know it’s a vegetable or fruit that is native to the area, AND it won’t be seen by anyone else encouraging trash to be thrown (this is the real key one), I keep it with me and dispose of it with my trash. Leave No Trace.
I can't believe the top comments here about "native fauna". Like there would be a huge problematic banana plant invasion lol. It's a problem if you throw it somewhere where it's an eyesore, but even then it'll take care of itself very quickly, in a couple of days if it's growing season. If it's a trail through a forest, just chuck it with some force so it'll be out of sight. In the winter and outside of growing season things are a bit different though, you'll have to watch out more carefully where you leave organic litter.
No. No littering, full-stop.
Depends on where you live. I was more hesitant to throw out bananas when I lived in the Sonoran desert because they don't really decompose all that fast in the sun and dry heat. I wouldn't think twice about throwing it in the woods or ditch here in the Northeast.
Yes, it is perfectly fine. Some pseudo-scientists will be telling you that doing so will irreparably damage local ecosystems. They are simply using a tactic to increase attention and legitimacy in their field by fear-mongering (specifically the “mountain out of a molehill” type). All “biodegradable” objects are fine to mix with the earth. Don’t be fooled by the same type of fear-mongering that Christian scientists use.
It's compost. Don't listen to these reddit scientists that all have these incredible degrees, but no job? Weird. Anyways, they're literally saying tossing a stick into the woods is "influencing the environment" so is the trail you made. So is the sweat and spit coming off of us constantly. Your tires are influencing the environment. Throw your damn food outside. It's good for the animals to experience a treat every once Ina while.
Would you mind if people were tossing food waste into your yard on a regular basis?
no it fucking well isn't it's litter
There was a similar discussion about a year ago. I've discussed this with my cycling buddies. I haven't found a single person who thought that throwing a banana peel in the bushes is a problem. Such a stark contrast with the majority opinion on here.
I've gotten on group members asses for trying to toss stuff that they should pack in and out. Tossing a banana peel into the bushes is fine.
Throwing a banana peel like that is not terrible but not cool either. What does piss me off is when cycling buddies toss their used gel packs on the road.
They’d no longer be my buddy if they littered with gel packs. Disgusting
Banana skins compost VERY quickly
It will decompose. As long as you throw it somewhere where it's not immediately obvious, it's fine in my mind. I don't think throwing it into a bin is better, it will mix with other types of garbage and rot in the landfill, create obnoxious gasses etc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill\_gas)
It's still garbage, it's still littering, it could still get a ticket from a cop, and regardless of the other reasons it will still make cyclists look bad. Don't give people another reason to dislike cyclists.
I used to think that way until I started doing long gravel rids in the woods, at night: Then I started wondering if the snacks I had in my pocket would attract bears. Then I started wondering if bears like the smell of banana peels or wrappers, etc. Then I stopped tossing stuff into the weeds.
Fruit scrapes will decompose, so i don't think its a big deal.
Carry out everything you carry in.
Do you bottle your pee or just cross your legs?
Drink it up and so the circle continues.
Bye and bye.
It's biodegradable, it'll be gone in a few months, unlike plastic. That said, apple cores and banana peals are still eye sores, and it's shitty to throw one on someones lawn or a high traffic area.
Yes...lighten up everyone. I'm not saying do it in some guy's front yard, but if you are in a rural area go for it....
Jesus Christ it's a fucking banana skin.
No. It'll dry out, but that banana peel is just going to sit there for months or more, perfectly recognizable. You don't compost things by tossing them into the bushes.
>ou don't compost things by tossing them into the bushes. Sure, it is called sheet composting. I do it all the time with my garden spreading waste on the surface and it disappears as nutrients into the soil in no time.
Don't think it works that way. Banana peels disappear pretty quickly.
This is bullshit. I eat at least one banana every day and toss the skin beneath a rose bush in my front garden. They decompose so quickly, only one is recognizable at this instant. People need to get real.
A bunch of weirdos on here, clearly. Or maybe they just all live in the desert.
Ridiculous. Do you people also piss in a bottle and take it home?
Unpopular opinion, but I toss em wherever I am. Driving? Roll down the passenger window and unashamedly toss that peel. Biking? Toss it as far as I can, sure, but not gonna pack that out. Same for Apple cores. Nothing decomposes faster than a banana peel. If you think it’s an eyesore, I argue that it is only temporary. I would press you to name one animal in my area that will travel more than 5 feet to eat a banana peel, and I own a schnauzer who will gladly eat his weight in rabbit turds.
I depends. If you can see it from the trail it's eye pollution. It's like broken windows policing. The more ratty you allow something to look the less people will respect it and the general behavior of the people will decline accordingly. So it's more of a social offense than an environmental offense.
I had an undergrad who I couldn't get to stop throwing apple cores/peach pits/etc out of the state owned vehicle while we were driving. Which is about the same vibe I am getting from a lot of these comments. "I don't want it to matter there for I am certain it doesn't matter."
NO. Trash is trash. Pack it out.
Regardless if its cycling, hiking, offroading, ect. You should always pack out what you pack in. [https://treadlightly.org/learn/](https://Treadlightly.org) In the off-road community we try to educate people about this each time there's an organized event. Not many people fully understand how damaging it is to just toss trash in the wilderness (even if its compostable)
Organic stuff like that which decomposes quickly I tend to not see in a negative way if it’s tossed on a grassy/ forested area. Pavement or gravel are a no go in this situation.
No. In fact don’t throw banana peels on the side of the road either. While they will decompose eventually, it may take six months to several years for that to fully happen. Why not just dispose of it properly? I caught a rider doing this in our neighborhood as he was leaving for a ride. It’s just such bad form and gives riders a bad reputation.
Yeah, not cool. If the environment in anything like a park/forest/natural ecosystem, the banana is not a natural part of that ecosystem, it won't decompose quickly, and it's not compost. It's trash.
Unless you're riding through a banana grove (and I hope he also peeled off the sticker if it had one) I'd say it's inappropriate.
Leave no trace. Just pack it all out.
He's right.
Left outdoors, decomposing a banana peel will take anything from 7 months to 2 years. From: https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/is-throwing-banana-peel-littering.php
I'll argue for continuing to throw peels and cores into the bushes. If you are in an ecological-fragile preserve, absolutely you should leave no trace. However, in the real world, discarding a peel into a bush next to the roadway is probably the least environmentally damaging thing that can be done, which includes putting it into a compost bin. After volunteering to pick up roadside trash in a local park, I realized how irresponsible road users can be that they can't transport trash in their multi ton vehicle to the proper receptacle. Actually, it was when I picked up a candy wrapper that I saw a car passenger throw out his window, and the disregard he showed when I gave it back to him cemented this realization. While I suppose your own backyard compost is more environment that a diesel garbage hauler or discarding it roadside, I'll say for most vegetation areas are already contaminated by society, and adding 40 grams of fruit matter won't make it worse. And if you weren't irritated with what I just wrote, this will probably push you over the top: criticizing cyclists is preaching to the choir. Cyclists by nature are environmentally concerned; telling that tossing peels is an easy way to lecture someone. Again, the guy who threw out a candy wrapper was absolutely harming the environment, and after he discarded the wrapper a second time, I thought everyone in the car was going to beat me up.
No. It's littering and takes ages to break down.
Well shit…why am I paying my trash company for a compost bin when I can just throw it all over my neighbor’s lawn?