Get a Green Dog!

Disposing of dog waste in a ‘green’ and environmentally friendly way

Lots and lots of us have brought a dog into our homes in the past year. In Ireland for example, there was a 25% increase in the amount of dogs being microchipped in 2020 compared to 2019.

[February 2021] Dog ownership comes with many responsibilities, not least of which is the requirement to pick up after your pet. It is an offense under the Irish litter laws not to do so. The easiest way for many people to comply and remove the offending article is to use a small bag like our compostable BioBag Dog Waste Bags.

It is an offence to let a dog under your control foul in a public place. If it does happen, you, or the person in charge of the dog, must remove the faeces and dispose of them in a suitable, sanitary manner.

We’re noticing that some people are bagging up the poo but then leaving it behind in a ditch, flowerbed or hedgerow rather than binning it or bringing it home. If you are using a plastic dog poo bag that can take hundreds of years to break down and possibly leach microplastics into the environment as it does.

We don’t think that everyone is being deliberately irresponsible or inconsiderate by leaving a poo bag on the side of a path. Often people mean to walk and collect the bag on their way home and but forget. Or if people see other bags abandoned they might feel its ok to leave one too! But the reality is that if it is left, it’s litter no matter what the good intentions.

Even if you are using a compostable or biodegradable poo bag, its still littering if just thrown away. Without the proper composting conditions (that you get in a composting facility or properly managed home composter), a compostable dog waste bag will still take many months or years to break down in nature.

Apart from the littering and plastic pollution, dog poo is harmful to children, adults, other dogs, wildlife and the environment. It can contain E.coli, worms, pharmaceuticals and bacteria to name a few. It spreads diseases such as Parvovirus and can pollute soil and water supplies.

So bag it and bin it. Many waste collectors will accept certified compostable bags such as BioBag in organic waste and brown bins. Alternatively BioBag Dog Waste Bags are certified for home composting.