Compost Experiment: An Old Straw Hat

Jim’s straw gardening hat has seen better days.

It seems the old straw hat spent the winter outside…

…Under some pots and tools and a bag of hardwood charcoal.

Sure, the old straw hat still casts some shade and could be set at a jaunty angle, as in the picture above, but the hat is not longer head-shaped or comfortable. Under ordinary circumstances, one might expect that such a hat would be thrown away.

I’m sure the title to my post, however, has given away the fact that my intentions for The Old Straw Hat are not ordinary. Instead, The Old Straw Hat might yet obtain a modicum of fame as the object of a composting experiment.

I began by removing the two metal and somewhat rusty grommets from the Hat’s brim. Jim noted that those would have eventually broken down but I’m going for speed here.

Then I introduced the Hat to its new home.

I did a little research to see if anyone has already explored the question of “How long does it take for an Old Straw Hat to decompose in compost?” but my initial investigation seems to show that the question is still wide open. I found the lyrics to a children’s song about composting which lists items that can go in a compost pile and includes the line “an old straw hat” so obviously I’m not the first one to try it!

If the experiment proves successful, I’ll be ready to update my post on 90 Things We Compost to 91. Watch for updates on the Old Straw Hat’s decomposition process.