Oasis (for flower arranging not the band)

[Thomzo]

Hi
Does anyone know what the oasis that is used in flower arranging is made of? The manufacturer says it is "An open-celled phenolic foam" http://www.smithersoasis.com/res_techfacts.php but that doesn't mean much to me.

Can anyone tell me how biodegradable it is - can you put it in the compost heap.

Is there anything else that can be used instead?

Cheers

Zoe

[Muddypause]

If it's what I'm thinking of, I suspect it's polyurethane foam. In which case it's not biodegradable, but it will break down over time in sunlight.

Nev's probably the man we need here.

[Wombat]

Howdy - tips hat!

If it is phenolic then it is as biodegradable as Bakelite ie not at all. As Stew says it will in all likelihood degrade under UV but I don't think the breakdown products would be particularly pleasant.

If you want to get rid of it bury it depply and confuse the living daylights out of some future archeologist........

Nev

[Thomzo]

Howdy - tips hat!

If you want to get rid of it bury it depply and confuse the living daylights out of some future archeologist........

Nev

[Tigerhair]

You're probably better off with a vase full of pebbles to position flowers!

[Silver Ether]

Sand is great too ... really good for using in tall containers stops the overbalencing

[Silver Ether]

If you want to get rid of it bury it depply and confuse the living daylights out of some future archeologist........

Nev

You know when we die out and the aliens take over ... I wonder what they will make of our landfill

[Thomzo]

Yuk!

[Wombat]

If you want to get rid of it bury it depply and confuse the living daylights out of some future archeologist........

Nev

You know when we die out and the aliens take over ... I wonder what they will make of our landfill

They will find lot of unrecycled and unbroken-down PET bottles and because of the large numbers, wonder if they have any religious significance........

("The cult of the god "Coke" seemed particularly popular...")

Nev

[Thomzo]

What if they find the Red Bull cans. Do you think they will spend Millenia trying to find out how we actually flew with just those cans?

Zoe