Polystyrene Beads?

Question

Can expanded polystyrene foam, such as disposable coffee cups, coolers or packaging material, which are typically white and are made of expanded polystyrene beads be run through a wood chipper or mulched by a lawnmower then added to soil to loosen it up and allow the soil to hold more moisture? Will it harm the soil content??

Answer 1

Um, no.  I know some of the stuff in potting soil looks like that is what it is, but that is not the same thing.  Besides, who wants a yard contaminated with tiny little bits of trash, eh?  But you can take the barely chopped foam or packing peanuts and use them to fill the bottom of a very large pot holding a plant with a shallow root system - it reduces the weight of the pot.

Answer 2

Perlite - the white bits in potting soil - is actually a naturally occurring volcanic rock (similar to pumice), not a synthetic substance such as styrofoam.  It is NOT recommended that you chop up styrofoam and put it into your garden as it is NOT biodegradable, nor is it necessarily all that great for plants...because it IS just a bunch of chemical compounds, after all.

Answer 3

Now and in the immediate future, no it will not hurt your garden.

Polystyrene, as with other plastics they take an incredible long period of time to break down.

It will allow for a little more porosity in the soil, thereby allowing more moisture to penetrate the soil and a better oxygen/nitrogen exchange.

Would I broad base say to everyone...chop your coffee cups and put them into your garden..no, you should recycle them. But just as ground tires, plastics and other materials that are destined for the landfill, they sometimes find there way to the soil as a soil conditioner.