My apologizes for continuing the poop talk. :) As I researched this topic I found that where our waste goes is a major issue. It's fascinating and disturbing. There are many issues with our current waste management system and one of them is the disposal of doggie waste.
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| Don't mind me if I doo-doo! Max @ Crissy Field. Don't ask me why I took this picture... |
I will be the first to admit that I have an unnatural attachment to my dogs, especially my Max whom I've renamed affectionately as Mr. Myax. I've adopted Max from the
Sacramento Pound and have had him for 3 years now. Snow, my shepherd/basenji mix, was adopted from a Bay area non-profit association
AHAN 2 years ago. They are both great dogs, but Max and I are attached by the hip.
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| Myax and I at San Francisco <3 |
My childhood dog Lucky, who at 17 yrs old passed away early last month, was also a small white dog. My mom took ownership of him when I moved out for college (He loved her way more anyway). We lived in a large house with a large yard so Lucky could go outside and freely do his business on the lawn. When we were out and about, my mom would use the plastic bags, the ones that held our newspapers, to pick up after him. It occurred to me that a lot of people use plastic bags. And it also occurred to me (and this is kind of gross) that Lucky's business would be festering in that plastic bag for a long time.
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| Lucky at 11 years old. R.I.P. |
Later after college I was off in California picking out the newest addition to our family. I didn't want to have Max or Snowy's poop decaying in a plastic bag. So we found these
BioBags. These bags are made of a patented bio-polymer called Mater-Bi, a product of an Italian company
Novamont. Mater-Bi is a mixture of cornstarch and cellulose. These bags meet the ASTM D6400 specifications, a standard for compostable plastics that requires a 60% biodegradation within 180 days. You can read a quick summary of ASTM D6400 specifications
here. BioBag was even selected as the bag of choice to collect the residents of San Francisco's food waste for their citywide composting program!!
I have not attempted putting BioBag in my compost because we have not been able to find anyone that carried BioBag in stores here in Chicago. I have tried to compost this biodegradable poop bag from
Greenbone that I bought at Target and so far it doesn't look like much is happening. But from the looks of the ASTM D6400 specs, I should see how the bag is after at least 180 days.
Flipping the argument.
Surprisingly, biodegradable poop bags can be harmful to the environment. In an article by
Sciencedaily, researchers from North Carolina State University found that biodegradable products in our municipal solid waste (aka trash or garbage) were degrading too quickly releasing methane into the environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that roughly 31% of municipal solid waste goes to a landfill where the methane is allowed to escapes back into the environment. The other 69% of landfills capture the methane gas, but many do not put in the gas collection systems for at least two years after the trash has been buried because they are not required to do so. This allows enough time for the biodegradable products to breakdown and release methane. The researchers recommend coming up with biodegradable products that will degrade much slower...
Why not just change the guidelines so gas collection systems get installed right away??
Counter argument.
In another article from
SFgate.com, Darby Hoover from the
NRDC explains that biodegradable bags do not break down fast enough in landfills. The landfills today have been designed to prevent leakages from occurring which in turn prevents any circulation of air or liquids that help breakdown biodegradable bags.
So what's better? Using a plastic bag which won't breakdown or using a biodegradable one which will breakdown but creates greenhouse gases (GHG). Hmmm....
Here are some alternatives as well:
1) Leave the poop there to degrade on its own.
This is by far my least favorable alternative. It might be feasible on your own property, but dog poop is not only an eye sore but causes the area to look/smell/be dirty. Dog poop has a host of pathogens and bacteria that have the potential to contaminate and pollute
watersheds. I will admit that we were guilty of this with Lucky, but we did pick up after him when he did his business off our lawn.
2) Flush it down the toilet.
There are some cities that do not allow you to flush dog poop down the toilet, but there are many cities that do. If this is something that you can do without getting a gag reflex, then check to see if your city allows it because the wastewater will get treated. You should also make sure your toilet can handle it and your septic tank will not clog. There are bags online that will allow you to pick up after your pet and flush it down the toilet such as
Flush Doggy and
Flush Puppies. There is a video about Flush Puppies
here. In the
SFgate.com article, flushing is considered the more greener option compared to bagging it.
3) Compost it.
Like composting humanure, animal feces has pathogens and bacteria that will need to have its own separate compost pile. Since dog waste compost still contains pathogens after it has been completed it is not safe to put the finished compost on any food crops. Here is a really good
video on making a DIY pet waste composter for your backyard. The only downfall here is that you will need a backyard for this, so not recommended for cities. And you will have to dig a deep hole to install the system to keep the stench at bay.
4)
Digest it.
A digester is like a pet septic tank. Unlike a compost, you won't need to empty it because the poop is liquified and allowed to return to the soil. Similar to a composter, you will need a large bin or garbage can for collection and some digestion enzymes you can buy from a hardware store. Here is a link of a DIY
pet waste digester. You can also purchase them like the
Doggie Dooley In-Ground Waste System. Again, like the composter, you will need a backyard to dig the hole for installation, so not recommended for cities.
5)
Hire a cleaning service.
Depending on where you live, there are dog waste management companies that will come by your home to do the dirty work for you. Here is
one in Aurora/Naperville IL that charges $10/week for one dog. What they do with the dog poop is unclear, but this option is good for someone who has a backyard in a suburban neighborhood.
Whichever option you decide to choose is entirely up to you. I've begun to entertain the option of using a doggy digester. And we completely support the use of cornstarch-based biodegradable poop bags because, greenhouse gases or not, at the end of the day the poop+bag will go away. In contrast, our petroleum based plastic bags have a life span of
15-1000 years, woof that's a long time...
In addition to enjoying cornstarch-based biodegradable poop bags, we also really enjoy a good corn maze! It's corn-tastic!
