Composting Dog Poop

Composting Dog Poop / What's Compost

Composting has numerous advantages. It is the main requirement for healthy planting. It can take place almost anytime even without exerting effort.

Composting, often described as nature’s way of recycling, is the biological process of breaking up of organic waste such as food waste, manure, leaves, grass trimmings, newspaper, worms, and coffee grounds, etc., into an extremely useful humus-like substance by various micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the presence of oxygen.

Actinomycetes are similar to fungus in the way they grow and spread, but its distinguishing elements are that the types of materials they are efficient at decomposing. The active nature in this microscopic bacteria and the sheer number present (about 10 million per 1 gram of soil), make them highly effective at breaking down materials like tree bark and other hard organic material.

Composting Dog Poop / Man's Best Friend

Dogs are popular for being man’s best friend, and best friends take care of each other so, as dogs give us security and companionship, we should take care of them too. Here we are bathing them, and sometimes putting clothes on them like they are humans...

but do we keep the same hygiene on them as how we keep it to ourselves?

Where does their poop go?

Do we dispose it properly or we just neglect the disadvantages it cause the environment?

Although dog poop is not declared as a biological-hazard, we should dispose it properly. It still produces bacteria that are harmful to humans. These bacteria are E. Coli, fecal coliform bacteria, salmonella, and giardia which can cause serious and harmful health issues to human beings.

Obviously, you do not want to step on a dog poop or to continually have to whiff the unpleasant odor. All you need to do is to dispose of it properly or, take it one step further, and you may actually make use of it and benefit from it.

Composting Dog Poop / Can You Dig It?

There are dog waste composters available to be purchased or you can save your money and create your own. Just dig a hole in your backyard that is at least 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide, place a make-shift receptacle in the middle (higher than the soil), surround it with rocks for stability, and your compost bin is ready to go.

Whenever your dog poops you can just put the waste in the bin together with soil, and just cover it so the smell will not spread with the air. Sprinkle some water on it, and that will produce healthy compost in time.

You can eliminate the hassle of disposing your dog poop, while you are giving your dogs proper hygiene. You can maintain a healthy environment while you enjoy the benefits of healthy compost that is good for planting.

The only thing dog waste compost is not good for is using it on planting food crops, but it is very healthy for ornamental plants.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/composting-dog-waste.html#
http://www.ak.nrcs.usda.gov/compost.html
EPA pdf: http://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/AK/.../dogwastecomposting2.pdf

Thank you for visiting the Composting Dog Poop page.

For more information on composting follow these links:

Definition of Composting

How Does Composting Work

Anaerobic Composting

Composting Techniques

Commercial Composting

Composting Newspaper

Composting Coffee Grounds