I'm learning how to use a string trimmer before buying one. I know that it uses a line to cut the grass. But the line will wear and get shorter. Where does the line go? I guess into the grass and ground. Then it will be plastic waste into the ground, right? We know that plastic can't be decomposed.
Is there a trimmer that does not use a plastic line?
While you can get trimmers that use blades, they are obviously no longer string trimers at that point, even if they came from the factory with a string head. Notably, they have considerably more risk when encountering a solid object, or you - depending on blade design, blades can break and fly off, or fail to yield when encountering an obstruction and cause the machine to kick wildly.
Depending what and how much you are trimming, all the pre-string-trimmer options apply - grass shears, hedge shears, powered hedge trimmers, scythes, sickles, etc. and they may be safer than some string-trimmer metal blade options. String trimmer plastic blades still shed plastic waste as they wear, and become plastic waste when they lose too much of (at least) one blade.
There do appear to be (supposedly) biodegradable trimmer line products showing up on the market - that should have been a priority from the outset, but obviously was not.
You're right, there are little bits of plastic that break off and end up on the ground. There are different types of heads for trimmers that can minimize this. Basically they use different types of blades, usually on a pivot to cut instead of plastic string.
You might check with your dealer for alternatives to the string head.
Maybe you could get some blades like this:
When they hit something too hard they yield instead of breaking. Search for Weed Wacker or Weed Warrior.
Cudos to you for trying to prevent more plastic waste!
Yes, the plastic line goes somewhere around.
Then again, two factors mitigate the plastic waste problem:
The line is usually quite distinct in color (in regard to grass or soil) and allows for easy collection of these parts that happen to tear off.
The line material - what I have seen is PLA. PLA (poly lactic acid) degrades into lactic acid. I am not sure about the speed of the process, but is pretty much faster than any degrade process that could happen in other popular polymers (polyethylene, polystyrene) and the degradation product is much safer.
Well, I still try to collect the orange pieces. They are aestetically unpleasant.
