If you’re a dog owner, you know the drill: walk the dog, scoop the poop, and repeat. But what happens after you pick it up? As much as our furry friends make every day better, every single bit of plastic we’ve ever used scooping up dog poop, still exists. And though the Earth is magnificent, it’s also feeling a little overwhelmed with the plastic waste we’re throwing away.

These traditional plastic poop bags are everywhere and they don’t break down. They fill up our landfills, float in our oceans and harm our wildlife.

But here’s the catch: you can’t just leave your dog poop lying around either. It’s smelly, nasty to step in, a health hazard, and against the law!

So what’s a responsible dog parent to do?

Why your choice of dog poop bags matters

There are alternatives to traditional single-use plastic poop bags, to make sure that the dog poop bags you use have less of an impact on Mother Earth and don’t stick around forever in our landfills. Home compostable dog poop bags, that are made with corn and other certified compostable materials, are a way to scoop without harming the planet our dogs walk on.

What are compostable dog poop bags?

These bags break down into organic compounds that are non-toxic when properly composted in home, municipal and commercial compost facilities. The result? New nutrient rich soil, which can then be used to help grow the same plants the compostable bags can be made from. And ultimately less plastic polluting our land and oceans.

Top tip 1: The best home compostable dog poop bags strike a perfect balance of durability and thickness. Look for bags that are strong enough to prevent leaks and tears--so you never have to worry about messy cleanups--yet designed to break down naturally in your home compost, leaving no harmful residue behind. Cleanup stays easy, and the planet stays happy!

Top tip 2: We recommend not putting your pet waste compost on your edible plants or flowers.

Our MyEcoWorld® compostable pet poop bags may look and feel similar to conventional plastic poop bags, and they’re just as tough, but they’re gentler on Mother Earth.

When composted properly in the right conditions, these bags contribute to a circular economy, where the waste returns to the Earth as new, healthy soil that can grow more plants. For more on this circular economy and how compostable bags contribute to healthy nutrient-rich soil read that blog here.

The do’s and don’ts of dog poop disposal

Do:

• Pick it up: Always make sure to pick up after your dog, no matter where you are. It’s part of being a responsible dog parent. Carry poop bags with you and dispose of them in an appropriate waste bin or take to a compost - whether commercial or at home.
• Choose certified home compostable poop bags: Investing in non-conventional poop bags will mean your pet’s waste won’t stick around for hundreds of years.
• Use certified composting facilities: Ideally, compostable bags need to be composted in a municipal or commercial composting facility where conditions like heat and moisture are optimal for breaking down organic waste and properly decomposing. Check with your local authorities if compostable bags are accepted in your area’s waste program to make sure your efforts don’t get wasted.
• Compost at home: If you’re feeling ambitious, you can compost your dog’s waste at home but there are a few things to keep in mind. Home composting needs to be done with care. Dog poop should be mixed with other organic waste (like leaves or vegetable scraps) to help it break down. Be sure to follow home composting guidelines to keep things sanitary and effective.
• Educate others: Talk to other pet parents in your community about the importance of proper waste disposal and how to be more environmentally conscious. The more people making this small but effective change, the more powerful the impact.
  
• Throw compostable bags in proper trash receptacles: Even though these bags are designed to break down, they need the right conditions to do so. Please refer to your local municipality on recommendations & requirements on proper pet waste disposal.

Do Not:

• Leave your dog poop out for others to step in: It’s just not a very friendly or responsible thing to do!
• Don’t leave your poop bag on the side of the trail or hanging from a tree: If it is compostable, it has to be in the correct composting conditions to break down, which means it needs to hit certain temperatures and more. Hanging from a tree is just littering.
• Flush dog poop: While it may seem like an easy way to get rid of it, dog poop should never be flushed down the toilet. Aside from the fact that most sewage systems aren’t equipped to handle it, dog waste can introduce harmful bacteria and parasites into our water supply and our oceans.

Small changes with a big impact.

But every little change matters. By switching to compostable or biodegradable poop bags like MyEcoWorld®’s poop bags, you’re making a small change that helps the planet. It may feel like just one bag, but multiply that by millions of dog owners around the world, and suddenly, the impact is huge.

If every dog owner took just this one step toward sustainability, we could create a cleaner, greener world for our pups and for future generations to enjoy too.

Let’s make every walk count. 🌍🐾