I agree with Jane, the perlite helps the peat from clumping! Lucky you

Perlite = yes! Styrofoam = no! Are absolutely positive it's not perlite? Perlite crunches when you crush it between your fingers...

i am going to be mixing vermiculite and compost with my peatm moss.
most of the white pieces are really small, smaller than a BB.

when i squish the bigger ones they squish flat then expand back out,

the big ones can easily be brken into small BBs.

they are all very soft and squishy.

So here we go..
Called them up.
It is what they call airlite.....
I said I ordered straight peat moss, not airlite. (which is styrofoam).
I said I am doing organic gardening and that stuff leaches chemicals.
They said it does not because it is 'pure stryrofoam' and they have organic gardners using it all the time.

basically told me to Eff off and they would do nothing about the 3 yards of peat full of styrofoam pellets.
Then told me it would just blow away anyway.

Got robbed....now got 3 yards of useless peat with styrofoam...and still need peat moss.

styrofoam is perfectly safe now......right..

Took a quick 'google' to see what airlite is. Seems the plastic is used in packaging food. It is manufactured in US. Whether the styrofoam is the same as their plastic, who knows.

Jane

Here is a link that might be useful: airlite

I hope you paid for the delivery on a credit card. If so, call your credit card company and tell them you would like to put the charges into dispute.

Carol

lol..paid cash...
gonna have to eat it....taking out all I can when mixing.
I also noticed pieces of glass, little bits of bags, etc..

guess nowadays everyone is skimping.

Apparently going for bulk means going to commercial growing suppliers...and that means dealing with people who really don't care about what goes in your soil.

I will never forget the manager telling me that the styrofoam is safe since it is airlite...and it is 'pure styrofoam'....

live and learn...

It sounds like they are mixing very fine mulch probably sourced from the county in to the peat to stretch it and make more money. I know here if you get the fine mulch from our county it is just as you described....has tiny plastic bag bits and assorted fine garbage in it.

While I find the aversion to a little bit of Styrofoam in the soil silly you should get what you paid for. I doubt the county will be happy to hear they are selling the free mulch they get.

Bob, if you look at the airlite link, you'll see that the company makes foam containers and plastic containers for food. The airlite is used as containers for yogurt, butter spreads, all sorts of food packaging.

I would assume it is BHA free, who knows? It appears they are a 'Green Company.'

Jane

I think they have found an easy to have unsuspecting gardeners bury their trash in little bits everywhere. The plants I found this stuff in were flats of annuals, which are often planted in the ground. I emailed Lowe's about this last spring and this is the response I was sent:

Good Evening Tiffany,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the plants that you purchased. I apologize that you are upset because you found bits or pearls of Styrofoam in your potting mixture.

We are aware that Styrofoam pellets along with perlite and vermiculite are some of the items that are often added to the soil mixture for aeration and water retention. This is a common element in most potting soil and especially potted plants or flats of plants. I will document your concern for review by appropriate management.

If there is anything else that I can do to further assist you, please let me know.

Thank you,

Brittany J.

Lowe's Customer Care

Veganbob sorry to hear of your bad experience, It is good of you to share. Previously I have bought annuals with styrofoam pellets in the mix. It stinks, not much I can do except buy from reputable nurseries and not buy stuff with styrofoam in it And YES I check.

Air lite is still a bit of a mystery.

I’ve been trying to research air lite, but little luck.

the link above is for a company that apparently does not make the air light in question.

it is possibly made from recycled polyester from products that have been banned because of HBCD.

this link does come up in the searches.

if any one has more info I would appreciate it.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-06/documents/1._hbcd_draft_risk_evaluation.pdf

EPA Study

It actually helps with retailing moisture in a potted plant. It areas with very dry weather and not to much water, it helps the