For environmentally conscious pet owners, most litter boxes may contain dog bags (of the poop scooper variety). Wasting organic matter is a pain and can be detrimental even if your community conducts bi-weekly garbage collection.
Should pet waste be disposed of in the trash? Or can it be composted?
waste reduction
As always, reducing waste is the most ecological choice in the first place, but few animal lovers would consider sacrificing the joys of owning a pet to reduce waste. Underfeeding your animals is also not a good idea.
but What your animal eats It affects the amount of waste they produce. Some pet foods contain indigestible fillers that can produce additional poop. Make sure you provide your pet with food that is biologically appropriate and easily digestible. Check with your vet before trying different foods to reduce your pet’s production.
A dramatic change in diet can have the opposite effect on your pet’s waste stream.
Why should you not lie?
How about leaving the poop where your pet dropped it? After all, your lawn appreciates a layer of foliage, and pet poop is organic matter. Right? Yes, but no.
Although animal waste is organic, it is quite dangerous if left undisturbed. not good for the environment. Pet waste can spread diseases to other animals and even humans. Pet waste stinks, attracts flies and pests, and makes any person or animal that enters it unhappy. When it breaks down, both surface water and groundwater become contaminated with nutrients and, in worse cases, parasites and high levels of E. coli and other bacteria.
do not flush
It may seem like a good idea to flush pet waste to a wastewater treatment facility for disposal. That might be the most environmentally friendly option. Contact your local wastewater treatment facility to find out if you can dispose of dog waste. But the truth is that most municipal water systems are not equipped to handle it.
EPA says America’s pet dogs 8 billion pounds The amount of poop per year is 3/4 pound per dog per day. Flushable pet waste bags do not always completely dissolve in sewer systems and can cause blockages. Additionally, dog feces may contain: CryptosporidiumA parasite that also infects humans.
Ideally, wastewater treatment Although parasites are removed, suboptimal treatment facilities or conditions can cause the parasites to spread. Cat feces should never be washed. Cat feces may contain: Toxoplasma gondiiIt is a parasite that is contagious to humans and survives treatment of municipal tap water.
official recommendation
Many websites claim that the EPA recommends flushing, but this is not the case. It may have been like that at one time, brochure Currently, the EPA website recommends disposal of waste.
Even Seattle, a city known for its early and proactive embrace of recycling and composting, encourages disposal. Pet waste in garbage bag. San Francisco also requires residents to bag pet waste and throw it in the trash. black box It gets sent to landfill.
composting
in the pastDog waste was one of the most valuable fertilizers farmers spread on their fields, but the discovery of germ theory put an end to the use of non-composted waste. no way a few places Although large-scale pet waste composting has been experimented with, municipal composting programs rarely accept pet waste along with other organic materials. when Residents do not comply Given the regulations for existing composting programs, you can’t blame cities for not trusting people to safely compost their pet waste at home. But it is technically possible for those who are really serious about zero waste and have the will and commitment to safety.
To destroy pathogens, compost must reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit and remain at that temperature for several days, which is not possible in a home composter. However, there is no guarantee that even a well-maintained compost pile at home will kill all bacteria and parasites. Do not use compost from pet waste on food crops or where young children play.
To be safe, the poop must be industrially composted, a process that can reach temperatures of up to 170 degrees.
But what happens without a sled dog team? Proceed with caution when it comes to commercially available household pet waste composting systems. Many of them are too small to generate enough heat to kill pathogens. Some are closer to small septic systems than composters. Most of the information available about these products comes from manufacturers who often talk about the general benefits of composting without providing specific safety information about their products.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on November 6, 2018, and was updated in November 2024.
