Dog & Me & Baby Makes Three - Chapter 4: Waste Products
I’m afraid the time has come to think about poo. Only a few weeks ago I was worrying about babies and doggie germs - and not a day later I discovered a trail of interestingly scented footprints right through the house. Taking my default position, I muttered at Jack for not watching where he was walking then took a quiet peek at my own shoes…
And with no-one else to blame, I’ve been diligently picking up the landmines Dog leaves in the backyard. Poo in bin. Yard tidy. One less thing on my mind.
‘What are you whinging about?’ thinks Dog, ‘You don’t even bother to go outside’.
‘Neither did you not so long ago. Lucky puppies are cute!’
Right on cue, I am hit by the squall of advice and (strong) opinion that blows up whenever a pregnant woman divulges her ‘condition’ to friends and colleagues. I had expected a lot of ‘You can’t eat or drink anything fun’ and ‘You shouldn’t do your favourite exercise’ and ‘Here are sixteen (conflicting) methods that are the only way to go through a birth.’ Instead my news sparked an unexpectedly heated climate change argument in the work tearoom.
A colleague commented that he and his partner chose to be child-free because humans are so environmentally unfriendly, so they got a rescue puppy instead. Someone kindly got angry at him for criticising me, although I doubt he was intending to. Then someone else chimed in that dogs are not sustainable either if you think about the meat that goes into their food - plus what comes out again. And I shrank into my seat thinking of my tidy pile of plastic bags doomed to hold their foul contents for the next thousand years, then release it in a puff of methane gas.
‘You do know that if you just left it on the ground where it belongs, nature would deal with it?’
‘No it wouldn’t. Our shoes and carpet would deal with it.’
Predictably, the child-free colleague (termed an ‘anti-natalist’ I’ve since learned), pointed out that nappies are not very eco-friendly - and I suddenly remembered I had this really interesting spreadsheet I hadn’t finished reading.
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After I finished reading the pretend spreadsheet, I pretended to work while I scanned the internet for waste product-related options to take some pressure off my dear Earth.
The most basic thing to know is that waste that can be broken down safely by worms doesn’t do so well buried under a pile of rubbish with no oxygen. The bacteria that break it down in landfill release methane which is not so great if you like a human-friendly climate. So when it comes to poo: composting good, landfill bad.
The most technical thing to know is that plastic bags have codes that tell you whether or not they can be composted. Very specific conditions are needed for ‘biodegradable’ bags to actually biodegrade, so they might not be suitable for compost. In Australia, bags certified with the code AS 5810-2010 and a double-arrow symbol can be broken down in home compost, as they allow for a longer time at lower temperature compared to industrial systems. There are similar certifications in other countries.
The most phylogenetic thing to know is that composting worms are related to intestinal worms. This means you shouldn’t compost the poo that arrives in the few days after treating your dog for worms. I did read assertions in some blogs and chats that this is not necessary with current worm medications, but none provided solid evidence or the details of their source so I couldn’t confirm this.
The most nauseating thing to know is that you shouldn’t put this compost onto your vegetable patch. But it is fine elsewhere in the garden.
The most fun thing to know is that poo can be used to power street lamps in dog parks! People just drop droppings into a device right there at the park and the resulting gas powers the lamp. If you’ve ever seen the undignified straining of a dog trying to go, you’ll appreciate the beauty of making the poo work for the dog.
‘To be fair, you’d strain undignifiedly too if someone was following you around with a plastic bag.’
‘You can’t talk. You followed me around with a nose the entire first trimester.’
I dearly wish my local Council would install one of these poo-powered lamps. Some cities are even investing in sewage treatment methods that power rubbish trucks. Not a subject I’ll raise over dinner, but it really is brilliant what humans can do when we can be bothered.
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So I decided to install a dog poo composter in my back yard. It turned out to be surprisingly easy.
How to compost Dog’s waste:
Pick a compost bin. There are a few commercial options around and DIY instructions online. There are also bokashi bins where bacteria do the job instead of worms. I chose the Yard Art Pet Poo Composter because of the low decision-making barrier: it was available at my local hardware store along with worms and accessories. Bonus feature: it is tall enough that an inquisitive baby can’t accidentally compost itself.
Pick a spot in the garden. Worms prefer damp work conditions with a moderate temperature. Summers can get hot and dry where I live, so I chose a garden bed that gets shaded by shrubs in the afternoon and has decent soil. Importantly, the spot has easy access so I have no excuse not to clean up land mines.
Buy literally thousands of compost-specific worms (and a few accessories). I followed the instructions closely here. A friend tried just reassigning a few handfuls of worms from an existing food scrap worm farm and her new poo composter didn’t take off - the result was truly unpleasant. Definitely the more worms the merrier.
While at the hardware store, spend more than expected on accessories that seem fun or useful. To help with mixing and aeration, I got a giant corkscrew called a ‘Compost Mate’ - some bins are designed to rotate for mixing but mine just sits there. I also threw in a ‘Worm Blanket’ which helps keep in moisture (hessian or newspaper could probably have done the job) - it works really well with the slight disadvantage that is it has to be lifted to make deposits underneath.
Convince the worms to eat poo. Start with vegetable scraps and gradually substitute increasing amounts of poo over a couple of weeks, until they have transitioned to 100% Dog produce.
Care for the new pets. Worms need moisture and oxygen, and mine also love a snack of shredded newspaper for the extra carbon. During the week, I just dump in everything Dog produces and walk away. In the weekend, I spend five minutes adding newspaper, watering, and mixing everything well with my corkscrew. That’s it. It just sits there dealing safely with the Dog poo problem and never seems to smell or get full.
Brag about your worm farm. I now more confidently add my two cents to the climate change arguments at work. I also like to take every opportunity to make immature jokes about having worms.
Facts, resources and tips:
Babies versus Earth:
This article interviews couples who choose to be child-free for environmental reasons. It is interesting to read this point of view and their concern for the planet is admirable.
This one also discusses the environmental impact of an increasing human population, but argues that providing women with access to healthcare, birth control and education is key to reducing birth rates.
Dogs versus Earth:
A 2017 study evaluated the environmental impact of what goes into and comes out of pets (apparently America’s pets produce as much poo as 90 million American humans do). An important take home message is that we should try to use the entire animal if we kill one for meat i.e. hygiene and protein content matter, but dogs honestly don’t mind eating icky-sounding bits of animal that we don’t want. We can also be careful not to feed pets more than they need. Here is an easy to read summary of the research.
Since we love dogs even though they eat and poo, this article has some great tips to reduce the environmental impact of our pets.
Fun uses for dog (and human) waste:
This article is an inspiring summary of dog and human poo-power options being put into place in around the world. Think lamps, fertiliser, heating - and even vehicles!
The Park Spark project is an example of using dog waste to power lamps in parks.
The city of Grand Junction in Colorado USA fuels its fleet of rubbish trucks, street sweepers, buses etc using gas produced by the city’s human waste treatment plant. I would totally support my local government to get this happening where I live.
Dog poo composting resources:
This article explains the problem with dog poo and why we should compost it.
This one explains the deal with different types of plastic bags - compostable, degradable etc.
I described the Tumbleweed brand of worm farm in this chapter because it is child-proof and it has worked well for my 60kg dog. I accidentally put post-worm tablet poo in recently with no noticeable effect (my brand contains Milbemycin Oxime and Praziquantel) but I usually try not to.
Instructions for a DIY pet poo composter (video version) if you’re after a cheaper option.
A bokashi bin is an alternative to a worm farm. This example may need a barrier to prevent babies and toddlers swimming in the sludge.