Compostable v’s Biodegradable Dog Poo Bags
What does it all mean? In the quest to be as earth friendly as possible it can be hard to know if you are making the right choices with so much available. Hopefully we can explain a few things in this blog that can help you!
Firstly, it’s important to say that no one is perfect and we will all make errors in being as eco friendly as we can. That’s why we ask people to let us know if they think there are better products on the market that we could sell on our site, as we know we can’t ever be perfect. What we do do is, try our absolute best and if you’re doing that then you’re doing the right thing!
Here at The Book of Dog we have both biodegradable and compostable poo bag options in our poo stuff section so let’s break it down for you (pardon the pun).
Compostable Poo Bags
Made from cornstarch which is not harmful to the environment
They need specific conditions to break down - If they are bought from our website they are certified suitable for home composting as long as the compost heap is a well kept and managed heap and is around 60 degrees celcius.
Dog poo on my compost heap? - It’s ok to compost dog poo but it has to be a hot compost heap and turned weekly. It’s sadly not a case of just throwing your dog poop into the heap and hoping for the best. It’s best to do your research before you start slinging your poop on your heap!
Landfill Fodder - If you can’t compost your poo bags properly they can be thrown into the bin as a last resort. They will break down eventually in landfill and won’t leave behind any micro plastics but they will hang around for a lot longer than you might think!
Biodegradable Poo Bags
Better than outright plastic bags
They do breakdown over time though they can take between 10 and 1,000 years to biodegrade - the time it takes depends on factors such as where the bag is placed to degrade and levels of moisture, warmth and oxygen.
They can still release micro plastics into the environment though the ones we have chosen assure us that they breakdown and breakdown into nothing - as the pieces become smaller they breakdown quicker
BPA free - BPA is a very sneaky substance that can mimic hormones. It has a detrimental affect on wildlife and breaks down in water meaning it can contaminate both fresh and salt water and cause havoc with nature.
We hope that’s given you some food for thought and maybe cleared up some questions!
So, all in all nobody should be leaving poo bags around in nature. Even if your poo bags are compostable or biodegradable it creates an eye sore for others wanting to enjoy the outdoors but it simply does not just disappear! Be kind to the environment and leave our beautiful nature poo bag free!