Beyond the Pooper Scooper - Managing Your Pet's Waste the Natural Way

Nobody likes a pile of dog feces, which is probably why it is an ever present nuisance befouling the grassy areas of city and suburb alike. Anyone living in a populated area has surely seen more than one irresponsible dog owner walking their dog hastily a few blocks away to do his business without a bag in sight so they can shirk their responsibility to clean up after their pet and leave a steaming pile behind destined for some innocent person's shoe. I am not this kind of dog owner. Before I had my first puppy I had a poop bag dispenser and 5 rolls of bags and where the dogs go, it goes. I also had a pooper scooper for the yard, where the dogs do most of their business anyway, and I can honestly say the only people who have misstepped into my dog's leavings are myself and my husband. But even though my dogs and I were not leaving a recognizably vile blight on my neighborhood streets behind us where we go, we were still leaving an ugly pile of filth in the landfill where it is not so obvious. The plastic bags I was using were not biodegradable, and by putting the plastic bags inside plastic garbage bags and sending them to the dump, I was taking up unnecessary space in the landfill for biodegradable waste.

At first I could not think of how to stop this - after all, if I just left the waste to decompose in my yard I would have a swarm of flies, nowhere to walk, and my house would become the pit of the abominable stench. That wouldn't do. Luckily my husband was not new to owning dogs and told me about the Doggie Dooley. I purchased the deluxe round unit for about $50 since I have 2 large dogs and no longer set a trash bag full of poop out with the rest of my trash. It is easy to use with a pooper scooper like this flexrake - just step on the foot handle to open the septic lid and deposit the waste. The septic requires minimal maintenance, just add water and digester periodically and it does the rest. The small lid takes up minimal yard space, doesn't stand out because it is so low to the ground and can easily be hidden with ground cover in the warmer seasons. Because of the breakdown process, be sure to put in plants that like rich soil and they will grow very fast making your yard a verdant retreat rather than your dog's toilet. Most dogs will return to the area around the septic to do their business, making cleanup quick and easy. While a dog septic doesn't give off much odor when closed, you might want to cover your face while servicing or filling it because once opened it is just like opening any other septic or sewer. Do not put the septic in an enclosed or partially enclosed area. If the septic is out in the yard in open air, the stench will dissipate completely within a minute or so of closing the lid.

So now I had a septic to manage the business my dogs do at home, but still those tiny walk bags found their way into my trash can and headed off for the landfill. Though a few bags of poop per week doesn't seem like much, if you imagine those same bags over the period of a year, or the dog's life, and then multiply by all the other people who dump their dog's droppings in the trash can, well - that's a big mountain of crap wrapped up in packages that can take 100 years to decompose. At the time I had yet to hear of biodegradable, compostable plastics, but one day while looking for some new CFL bulbs I stumbled upon some kitchen bags and gave them a try. Because I was so impressed with the kitchen bags, I decided to look for compostable options for my other bag needs and found the BioBag compostable pet bags. At around a quarter a bag, they don't break the bank. Since my area does not have a community compost, and I don't want to fill my compost barrel with dog feces, and I don't want to put bags in my septic, I choose to bury the bag and feces alike where the micro-organisms in the ground make quick work of turning the bag and feces into a beneficial part of the ecosystem. The bags might work in the septic, and maybe next year in the heat of summer when it is at peak efficiency, I will give it a shot with a single bag. For those with a larger yard, composting at home would be the best option, and for those with community compost - well, if you have that option you are phenominally lucky and I am envious.

I like the BioBag products because the company is so transparent about their test results and the bags are certified in the US (including the super strict state of California) and Europe. They are also made of sustainable materials - corn starch! There are some products out there labeled as biodegradable plastics that are actually mixed type plastics that break into smaller chunks during the decomposition process that can be consumed by birds and other small animals before decomposition is complete. The biobags will completely and uniformly decompose in almost any environment, the exception being sealed landfills where the oxygen and bacteria cannot do their job, but this is true of any material placed in such a landfill and is yet another reason why sealed landfills are so bad. BioBag also makes other compost, trash bag items and even an eco-friendly human toilet for campers. With the help of companies like BioBag and products like pet septics we can help reduce the migration of biodegradable waste to the landfills and start naturally returning it to the Earth where it belongs.