Eco-Responsible Pet Parenting

It was a happy day two weeks ago when we welcomed our new fur-baby into our family! My husband and I had talked about adopting a dog for years, but had delayed because we wanted to be good pet parents. With both of us out of the house for 8 to 12 hours a day, it just seemed unfair to have a dog sit by him/herself for such long stretches. Our reluctance was increased by our desire to travel in retirement; so we never took action on our wish.

Fast forward to Covid-19.  Both of us are now fully retired.  Our travel plans are, sadly, on hold until at least 2021.  So….it was a perfect time to adopt!

Having this not-so-little being in our home has been a delight.  Oliver is (we think) about 18 months old and weighs 75 pounds.  And man, does this doggie generate a LOT OF WASTE!  Dog food cans and bags can be recycled, but what about – you guessed it – all of that POOP!  Holy guacamole, I had no idea!!!

So here is what I have learned so far:

• Dog poop pick up bags are NOT all eco-friendly. Most do not decompose in a timely manner in landfill. The best options are bags made from vegetable sources like corn. They are more expensive than the plastic ones, but do break down better in landfills.

So what’s up with the landfills?  Well, for things to decompose, they need air and moisture. The problem with landfills is that everything is compressed, weighed down by the tons of trash on top of what goes in first. Oxygen and moisture are just not there to help with the decomposition process. So rather than decompose, organic matter like poop kind of mummifies. This may be great news for archeologists of the future, but really doesn’t help the planet.  

• So given the above issues, we have corn based bags to use to collect poop when we walk Oliver. Once at home, we decided to go full ECO NUTS!!!  We are composting dog poop!!

“WHAT!!! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!”, you might very well ask. Well maybe, but here are the options for dealing with pet poop.  

1. Send it to the landfill as above.
2. Flush it down your toilet. To do this, you need to check with your sanitation department to be sure this is OK (dog poop has different pathogens than human waste, and the sanitation system may not be able to deal with this). Then, you need to figure out if your pipes can handle it. We spent a lot of time with a plunger after trying the flush method. If you have a newer home, or better plumbing than we have, there are flushable poop bags that dissolve made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). These can go right down toilet poop and all, so you have minimal face time with the poop. This is an option if your plumbing can handle it.
3. Composting. Yes, this can be done. The general impression I got from reading is that you should not use the compost on your vegetables or fruits. This is because there are parasites and bacteria in dog waste that can be passed to humans. For the pathogens to be destroyed, the compost must achieve temperatures of 130 to 160 degrees for several days. (I’m going to watch mine with my compost thermometer – yes, I have one – how weird is that!) Doggie poo compost can be used for trees and flower beds. You compost it just like food waste. It goes in your composter at a ratio of one part poop to one – two parts green waste (food or lawn clippings or sawdust). Make sure things are moist in the composter, and be sure to turn it at least 3 times a week. Adding worms will speed up the process. And voila!  Compost!  

If this is too much, there is a system called Doggy Dooley that is it’s own little mini septic system. It requires digging a 4 foot hole and also needs well drained soil. I may try this if the composting is too disgusting.

I am just starting the poop composting experiment today because the compost is ready to roll. The composter is far away from the house, so that’s good. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll try the Doggy Dooley. I’ll let you know how all of this turns out! 

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