How Long Until It's Gone?
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How Long Until It's Gone?
PlayableFrom a banana peel to a glass bottle that outlives us all.
How Long Until It's Gone? is a free interactive decomposition timeline. Scroll through 20 things people throw away every day, sorted from fastest to slowest to break down, and watch each one rot, rust or crumble while the clock counts up.
It starts with a paper towel, a banana peel and a newspaper that are gone in weeks. Then the numbers start to stretch: a milk carton, chewing gum, a cigarette butt, a plastic bag that lasts about 20 years, a styrofoam cup, a tin can, an aluminum can, a plastic straw, a diaper and fishing line. Last of all is a glass bottle, which can take around a million years.
Each step shows roughly when something thrown away today would be gone. The plastic things leave microplastic behind, and it piles up at the bottom of the screen as you go. Like Scale of Energy and Fold to the Moon, it is a small experiment about numbers too big for intuition. No download or signup needed.
How to play
Scroll, swipe or use the arrow keys to move to the next item. Each screen shows one object, how long it takes to break down and a short fact about why.
Tap the small markers on the timeline at the bottom to jump between items. Reach the glass bottle to see the end, then start over or move on to the next game.
How long does it take for things to decompose?
- Paper towel and banana peel: about 2–4 weeks.
- Apple core and cardboard box: about 2 months.
- Milk carton and chewing gum: up to about 5 years.
- Plastic bag: about 20 years, and it never fully disappears — it turns into microplastic.
- Aluminum can: 80–200 years. Plastic straw: up to 200 years.
- Diaper: about 450 years. Fishing line: up to 600 years.
- Glass bottle: around a million years.
Why plastic leaves microplastic behind
Plastic does not rot the way paper or food does. Sunlight and wear break it into smaller and smaller pieces, but the material itself stays. That is why the plastic items in the game add to a pile of tiny specks that never goes away.
FAQ
How long does it take for glass to decompose?
A glass bottle can take around a million years to break down in nature, longer than anything else in the game. Glass can be recycled over and over, though.
How long do plastic bags last?
Around 20 years before a bag falls apart, but the plastic does not disappear. It breaks into microplastic that stays in soil and water.
Are the decomposition times exact?
No. They are rounded estimates. Real times depend on moisture, sunlight, temperature and whether something ends up in soil, a landfill or the sea.
Is it free and does it work on mobile?
Yes. Play free in your browser without an account. Swipe on a phone, or scroll and use the arrow keys on a computer.
Decomposition times are rounded estimates and vary a lot with conditions.
