Biodegradable Credit Cards: The Good Kind Of Financial Breakdown

Green Inc.:

While archeologists might someday value these relics, most credit cards -- which are typically made of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC -- outlive their usefulness after three years. And after expiration, they are cut up and thrown away, passing the rest of their indestructible lives in a landfill.

In December, Discover Financial Services introduced a biodegradable credit card that breaks down when exposed to microorganisms. Like a traditional card, it is also durable enough to stay intact in the dark pockets of your wallet and through normal wear and tear for at least four years.

However, in a "fertile" environment full of microorganisms, such as compost, waterways, the ocean, dirt and landfills, these biodegradable cards, its inventors say, break down.

Read the whole story: Green Inc.

Comments

[mespace]

This is a "waste" of time. It sounds more like bragging rights to going green. There are a million other products we throw out each year that would have a bigger impact if they were biodegradable. It's like trying to clean up Lake Michigan with a couple bottles of Evian. http://mespace.wordpress.com/

[cyclobenzaprine9]

Very interesting concept. Way to go green!

[steve70638]

...but, of course, not in landfills which are by and large free of bacteria since the garbage is covered in clay which deprives the garbage and their microorganisms oxygen. Much ado about nothing.