Do you want to switch out your plastic poop bags for eco-friendly ones? If so, it’s important to know whether the poop bag you’re using is compostable.

The answer depends on how the poop bag is made and how you dispose of it. If you use a poop bag certified as compostable, you can either compost it at home or throw it in with the rest of your trash at a municipal composting facility where pet waste is accepted.

Source:https://i.pinimg.com

Compostable

While many poop bags claim to be biodegradable bags, they don't actually break down within a year. Instead, they become mummified in landfills where they don't reach the conditions necessary to decompose properly.

According to the FTC's Green Guide, which provides information to companies on how to truthfully market earth-friendly products, "a marketer making an unqualified degradable claim should have competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire item will completely break down and return to nature, within a reasonably short period of time."

That's simply not possible for most brands. Some even do not degrade at all! This is especially true of dog waste.

Source:https://i.pinimg.com

Biodegradable

If you’re looking to reduce your environmental footprint, it may be time to switch from traditional plastic bags to biodegradable dog waste bags. You can choose a bag that’s odor-free, easy to close and strong enough to keep the waste inside without ripping when you throw it in the garbage.

You can also choose a bag that’s opaque so other people don’t see the waste inside. You’ll also want a bag that can handle multiple dogs, as well as one that won’t leak when you fill it up.

The biggest downside to most poop bags is that they don’t actually degrade in a landfill. Instead, they mummify the poop, blocking the sun and oxygen.

However, you can still compost your poop bags at home in a commercial compost bin or at a worm farm. Make sure to follow the instructions for how to do so. Otherwise, you can risk contaminating the environment with toxic chemicals from your dog waste.

Recyclable

When you pick up your dog's poop in a green bag and throw it in the trash bin, you are doing your part for the environment. But it’s important to note that the plastic in those poop bags is not biodegradable.

A pet compostable waste bags are a great alternative to standard plastic bags, providing a safe, sustainable way to dispose of your dog’s poop and helping to reduce landfill space. They break down in industrial composting facilities, home composters or worm farms to return to a natural state and provide good fertilizer.

However, the FTC says that at least 20 companies are making deceptive claims about their products’ “compostable” or “biodegradable” properties. These products usually take years to break down, and in the process, release methane gas that’s more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.

Leak-proof

While a lot of pet owners like to feel eco-friendly by picking up their dog’s poop in poop biodegradable waste bags and tossing them in the trash, many don’t actually break down as promised. According to the FTC, marketers of these earth-friendly products may be deceiving consumers by using an unqualified “biodegradable” claim on their packaging.

Fortunately, there are a few options that actually do the trick. For example, Earth Rated poop bags are made from a vegetable-based material that decomposes in 90 days.

These biodegradable poop bags are also extra thick and leak-proof to keep the contents and odor inside. They come in a box with 24 refill rolls of 15 unscented poop bags and can last you for up to six months.

They’re 38% biodegradable, so they can be composted at home or disposed of in park bins. The roll cores and packaging are also made from recycled materials. And they’re unscented, so you don’t have to worry about harsh chemicals that dogs hate.