http://www.care2.com/greenliving/composting-dog-waste.html
Composting Dog Waste
By Annemarie Conte, Plenty magazine
My boyfriend had argued for a rottweiler. I lobbied for something that weighed a more manageable 30 pounds and didn’t look like it snacked on children. (Rotties can be very sweet, I know, but I also wasn’t into the uncontrollable drooling.) We compromised and found an adorable, 45-pound mutt at a local shelter. Honey has a yellow lab body with a pit bull head that looks like it was screwed on by a mad scientist. Actually, she is totally adorable and not at all mutant-like. Though nowhere near the scale of a rottweiler’s waste, Honey’s poops are still considerable and, needless to say, unavoidable.
I started getting the newspaper delivered around the same time we got Honey, and because our paperboy insisted on double bagging on even the driest of days, our porch was overrun with yellow plastic sleeves. After a few weeks of grabbing one from the growing pile and using it as a pooper-scooper, I returned home, sunk the knotted-up bag of dog waste in the trash can and felt overwhelmingly guilty.
I was taking a natural product that would eventually degrade on its own and encasing it in plastic. In an airless landfill, my dog’s waste will outlive her. (Hell, it’s gonna outlive me.)
I wish I could get all renegade and tell people to leave the poop where it lies, but a) this isn’t Paris, b) that will make people hate you and hate all dog owners by extension, and c) dog poop is actually really dangerous. Dogs carry E. coli, salmonella, and giardia, among other nasties, so when you just leave the poop there to rot, the rain can wash it into rivers, streams, and oceans (beaches have been closed across the country due to contaminated water caused, in part, by dog doo). So, my moral quandary became: Do I doom it to a landfill or directly contribute to unsafe swimming conditions? My choice was neither, and that’s how I ended up as the crazy lady who composts dog poop.
Turns out there are a few commercial composters out there, like the Doogie Dooley, but since I feel my $89.95 could be better spent on squeaky toys and treats, I decided to make one myself for less than ten bucks. All of the credit goes to Sharon Slack, head gardener of City Farmer at Vancouver’s Compost Demonstration Garden. She’s been doing this for more than twenty years on her own, so I called her up and shamelessly mined her for wisdom after poring over the slide-show instructions on the City Farmer Web site.
Sharon tells me to pick an area with porous soil that doesn’t have a high water table and is at least fifteen feet from my garden, due to the aforementioned contamination issues. Since my basement threatens to flood every time there’s a chance of thunderstorms, I assume I’m okay on the water table front. (And I realize I’m lucky enough to actually have a backyard, unlike some of my apartment-dwelling friends, who refer to their fire escapes as the “lanai,” a la The Golden Girls, to make themselves feel better about their lack of outdoor space.)
1. I choose a flat patch behind the garage, then grab an old, plastic garbage can, cut out the bottom, and drill drainage holes in the sides. While I do that, I try to convince my boyfriend to dig a can-sized hole, but he refuses, saying, “this is your project.”
2. After I’m done digging the hole, I sink the can into it, the top just above ground-level, and add rocks to the bottom for drainage.
3. At last, it’s time to throw in the dootie I’ve stored in 100 percent biodegradable BioBags (get ‘em on the company’s Web site; there are other bags out there that are sold as biodegradable but aren’t).
4. I add in a can of septic starter I bought at a hardware store, then enough water to soak the whole mess. I stick a lid on the thing and ignore it unless I’m depositing a BioBag, an armful of grass clippings, or more septic starter to keep breaking down the mess.
5. In time, Sharon tells me, I should have a nice, rich soil to spread on my non-edibles (go figure–bacteria-laced compost should be limited to decorative plants since it’s not so great for your veggie patch). The whole thing took me less than an hour, which I suspect will make it among the fastest and easiest eco-friendly changes I’ll ever test-drive. What’s the hard part? Teaching Honey to poop directly into the composter.
Plenty is an environmental media company dedicated to exploring and giving voice to the green revolution that will define the 21st Century. Click here to subscribe to Plenty.
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12 comments
add your comment »Excellent solution from Annemarie! Fresh dog poo is acidic (you can see how it destroys grass), but when you let bacteria work on it through composting or anaerobic digestion, the acid is diminished and it is useful for plants. The problem with using the resulting soil amendment in vegetable gardens is that all pathogens are not killed unless the amendment is thoroughly exposed to high heat (145 degrees). If you don't scrupulously clean fruits and veggies that touch the contaminated soil, you've got a health hazard. This is especially true with tubers. So better to just not take the risk.
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why is this inappropriate?
thanksss...
Kabin
Konteyner
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why is this inappropriate?
Parasites are a problem with composting the feces of flesh eating animals. I would avoid it. Probiotic formation in a healthy compost pile is one thing, but parasites thriving on your compost is not the direction I want my composting to be going.
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why is this inappropriate?
Bio-bags are a wonderful idea, but it still ends up in a landfill where it has a hard time biodegrading. Quickly decomposing food (such as lettuce) can sit in a landfill 30 years or better if stuck in the right place. That same lettuce would turn to dirt in a week in your back yard. Composting dog poo seems smart. Keep it up!
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why is this inappropriate?
Bio-bags are a wonderful idea, but it still ends up in a landfill where it has a hard time biodegrading. Quickly decomposing food (such as lettuce) can sit in a landfill 30 years or better if stuck in the right place. That same lettuce would turn to dirt in a week in your back yard. Composting dog poo seems smart. Keep it up!
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why is this inappropriate?
If my boyfriend was too lazy to help build, then you can bet he'd be walking the dog & collecting the poop!
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why is this inappropriate?
I am a low-effort composter. Meaning the compost pile is never fully gone. Every year the best part - that which has gone nice and crumbly, goes on my vegetable garden, and the uncomposted remains simply get turned, with more leaves, pond waste with who knows what in it, and yes, the occasional dog poop from my back yard, gets piled up and let sit. In plain view, full sun. Composting with sufficient heat and washing my veggies seems to have handled whatever bacteria are in the dog poop. But with 3 large dogs, some does go to the landfill. In purina dog chow sacks that aren't sealed. They were headed for the landfill anyway.
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why is this inappropriate?
I use newspaper. When my dog gets into position I place the newspaper under him. When he is finished I fold it up and toss it. It is gone in about 2 months - in my backyard or in the trash. Newspaper is always available and nothing ever hits the ground. My neighbors don't mind a bit.
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I too use the bio-bags for my two small dogs, usually able to fit two poops in one bag. They say that they biodegrade in 30 days so I feel as though I am doing something for the landfills. No, do not use meat eating animal poop on edible plants - it is unsanitary.
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This sounds great but I heard some where that meat eating animals Poop was acidic, making it bad for many plants as it burns their roots while breaking down. Not to mention the bacterias listed before (which is why you wouldn't put it on anything to eat, as mentioned above). Does anyone know if what I've said is true? These are the reasons I've never considered composting or just leaving it. But biodegradable bags sound good no matter what!
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