I am one of the responsible dogs owners who makes sure my beloved pet
doesn't leave any mess in a public place. As we all know, apart from
the smell, dog faeces can carry diseases. So I am doing the right
thing there.
However, what I am also doing is putting a natural product that
naturally degrades and adds to the ecosystem into a plastic bag which
does not. Doesn't that sound crazy? Where do these bags end up?
Probably still intact on a landfill site.
I understand you can acquire biodegradable poo bags. But they are not
widely available in the usual places such as 'Pets at Home' and the
supermarkets. Shouldn't the big manufacturers of these bags be more
aware and start making them biodegradable? Otherwise we are actually
preserving out dogs waste for generations to come!
How many dog owners use Biodegradable Poo Bags and where can they be
purchased?
Many thanks,
Tony Cruse, by email
Re Save the planet and the poo!
ReplyDeleteTony is spot on - picking up the poo as a responsible dog owner is the right thing to do, but contributing to the blight of fossil fuel based plastic bags is not. There are a number of choices (bear with me). Firstly, there is a difference between biodegradable bags and compostable bags, though both obviously biodegrade and both are lots better than the standard plastic poop bag (reasons below).
I choose to sell compostable bags, BioBag Dog, from renewable sources with my own product, the muksak, for environmental reasons, though I recognise that they are more expensive than the standard plastic ones (www.muksak.com). That is probably the reason why it is hard to get them in local shops and chains. I do think though that responsible owners are becoming more aware of the issues that Tony raises.
Most of us will have been bombarded with the facts about the single use plastic bag at the supermarket - plastic bags use up natural resources (petroleum) and take ages to break down. Most dog waste collected from bins will go off to landfill, and contained within the plastic will give off methane. There doesn't seem much point in making efforts to bring your reusable bag shopping and then undo all the good work by using standard plastic poop bags.
If bags are simply marked biodegradable, then they are likely to still be made from fossil fuel based sources. As such, they're an improvement on standard bags, but not loads better. They will allow the poo to breakdown more quickly and naturally, though in landfill conditions most organic matter will be decomposing anaerobically whatever bag they are in.
The answer is to search out compostable bags, largely made from bioplastics from renewable plant sources such as corn. In doing this, you make the biggest difference by avoiding fossil fuel based materials. The catch? They are going to be pricier, though how much that is because of lower demand I don't know. Incidentally, the reason that I did not design a bag container into the muksak was so that dog owners who cared could search out their own choice of poo bag to suit their ethics and their purse.
If you really want to reduce your carbon footprint, then bring the compostable bag of poo back (in your muksak of course)and use a dedicated wormery to convert it into useful compost and plant fertiliser at home.
A final thought (sorry I can get really geeky on all of this) but though it is probably the best option to leave dog poo in certain natural situations such as woodland, as long as you've cleared it from the path, please don't leave it uncollected where there is livestock (health reasons) or fragile habitats such as dunes and heathland (enrichment). Loads more, if you're still reading this, on the muksak website.
Thanks
Alison Vaughan
Muksak Ltd (smell-proof poo container)
I've just invested in two wormeries, which I hope by next summer will be taking care of all the dog poo from the garden (including the many boarders I care for). I also have a dog waste composter, which often get bad press as they a bit more difficult to get running smoothly than the materials suggest, but they can and do work.
ReplyDeleteAt home I collect it in an old flowerpot, using a cat litter scoop to 'flick' it in, so never need to use bags.
I am seriously considering using old newspapers on walks to pick up and bring home in my muksak to feed the worms, but time will tell if that will work. As a professional dog walker I have to deal with a lot of poo, and as I can't control diet not all of it is 'suitable' for wrapping in newspaper.
I prefer not to leave it in the woods where I walk - as I live in a town most of the woods are crawling with children holidays and weekends, and they don't just stick to the paths, but if you're in an out of the way area it's probably not so bad.
You could empty your poop bags into your wormery or decomposter, give them a rinse under the outside tap if you've got one and either reuse or find the nearest place to recycle them.
Here's a little something I wrote a few years ago - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A11998461 I'll be updating it next year when I've had more experience with the wormeries, and tried the newspaper method.
We use nappy sack bags - 300 for about £1 a box. They do break down quite quickly but I also appreciate the comments that this doesn't help our landfill. Many years ago you could get a product which replaced the standard manhole sewer cover. We have such a manhole in our back garden and I have always longed to find it again. The cover had a small seperate twist off section in the centre so disposal of poo was easy!!! It is probably illegal now to send it away with human poo!!! When we had an outside loo I often just flushed it away there too. It is also worth mentioning that there are a couple of products which make even the runniest poo able to be picked up! They spray freeze it. We used to have a dog who had tummy problems and always carried a spray in case of accidents. We would all love to train our dogs to poo at home..........or would we??? [Some people could not bear it in their own garden but still think it perfectly acceptable to leave it elsewhere] ...however I digress. It is not always practical as none of us always work like clockwork with bodily functions do we and our beloved dogs often find a tantalising spot they can't resist. Of course it is okay for cats to come and poo in my veggie patch and flower borders because no one worries about the ton of cat poo deposited everywhere do they?
ReplyDeleteThere have already been some great comments and ideas for poop disposal, so I won't add to that. But just to answer your last question about where to purchase biodegradable poop bags, we have two sorts to chose from here http://www.dfordog.co.uk/acatalog/dog_poop_bags.html
ReplyDeleteActually I think many more places do sell biodegradable bags these days. Having three dogs, I usually buy mine by the thousand - a quick google search will bring up lots, but www.envirobag.co.uk are good.
ReplyDeleteSome of them, like Biobags, are very small and don't have tie handles, it's a question of what you prefer! PAH certainly used to sell this type too. If you want a smaller quantity of tie-handle bags, most supermarkets sell biodegradable nappy sacks - though they might have a fancy pattern on!
In our local woods the protocol is to stick and flick to make sure it is off the path. This was introduced after people KEPT hanging their full poo gags from tree branches as there are no poo bins provided. obviously they where incapable of taking it home with them.
ReplyDeleteI too always pick up poo, but I have to be honest, I can understand why people leave it behind if there are no bins. I'm perfectly happy to pick it up and dispose of it in a bin, but who really wants to carry full poo bags, which smell even when double bagged?
ReplyDeleteSurely more people would dispose of doggy poo if there were bins provided at areas where dog walking is common, even if only in the car park?
Re: bags made from corn: I heard that the use of corn was very bad for the environment, and all but cancels out the benefit of biodegradable/compostable bags. don't have many facts, but it was to do with destroying land to grow corn. Anyone else know more about this?
ReplyDelete