[MAIPC] weed whacker plastic

Mon Sep 17 06:46:33 PDT 2018

I have always wondered this myself, and just hoped that I was doing more good by weed whacking the invasives, than I was bad by littering the plastic string. I just think of all of the landscaping companies who use weed whacker string on a daily basis (much of the year), all of the private home owners, maintenance divisions of all sizes on all levels, etc.  It really is a lot of string and a lot of plastic over the weeks/months/years, we just don’t usually notice it as it mixes in with all the other grass clippings and gets lost. This stuff comes on relatively large spools and I’ve seen work crews go through multiple spools in a growing season, none of that string makes it to a trash can, its just dispersed all over in tiny pieces.

I did see online that there are several options for biodegradable weed whacker string, but I have not had experience using it.  If anyone who may have experience using a  biodegradable weed whacker string would like to share their thoughts on its performance I would certainly be interested.
I can certainly understand the question here, and maybe this is a small change you can make personally that will still accomplish the goal.  I didn’t really think much of it until this point was raised, but it is something that I will consider moving forward.
The job still needs to get done, but if we can do it and not put any more plastics into the environment than we already do, why not?!
Just my thoughts

From: MAIPC <maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org> On Behalf Of Jil Swearingen
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2018 8:35 PM
To: michelskm2016 <michelskm2016 at gmail.com>
Cc: Susan Gitlin <susan.mclaughlin at alumni.stanford.edu>; maipc at lists.maipc.org
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] weed whacker plastic

Susan, I don't think you're losing that much plastic from the whacker. I wouldn't worry about it. Jil

On Fri, Sep 14, 2018, 5:52 PM michelskm2016 <michelskm2016 at gmail.com<mailto:michelskm2016 at gmail.com>> wrote:
Thr stilt grass will bloom ans seed anyway no matter how low or often you cut it. Unless you pull it. We gave up on cutting - thr only solution is to  pull it- or if you really want  to whack those old fashioned metal corrugated hand whacker are efdeceive and oh so satisfying  as you swing it like a scythre  through the nasties.

Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: Susan Gitlin <susan.mclaughlin at alumni.stanford.edu<mailto:susan.mclaughlin at alumni.stanford.edu>>
Date: 9/14/18 4:54 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: Ben Fischler <brf57 at yahoo.com<mailto:brf57 at yahoo.com>>
Cc: maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] weed whacker plastic
Yes, I guess I should have mentioned that I realized that plastic was being spread all over.  But I wonder if you have discussed the ramifications of this.  I have land that I am trying to restore, and I live in a floodplain.  What are the ramifications for soil and water?

On Fri, Sep 14, 2018 at 4:24 PM, Ben Fischler <brf57 at yahoo.com<mailto:brf57 at yahoo.com>> wrote:
Little bits of plastic are spread over your landscape.

On ‎Friday‎, ‎September‎ ‎14‎, ‎2018‎ ‎04‎:‎22‎:‎55‎ ‎PM‎ ‎EDT, Susan Gitlin <susan.mclaughlin at alumni.stanford.edu<mailto:susan.mclaughlin at alumni.stanford.edu>> wrote:

As I spend yet another afternoon whacking stiltgrass here in Rockbridge County, Virginia, I wonder about where all the plastic from my line is going.  Is this a topic that y'all have discussed?

Thank you!

--Susan Gitlin
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