Pet Waste Composting

Pet Waste Composting / What's Compost

The population of pet lovers is increasing yearly. Pets are wonderful companions in our everyday lives but most people do not practice composting pet waste.

Compost is the end product of the composting process. Composting is a cheap, effective and environmentally friendly method of producing compost from various materials such as food waste, manure, worms, kitchen waste, paper, grass, newspaper, coffee grounds, etc. into usable fertilizer.

We feed our pets with the right choice and proper amount of food. We nourish and take care of them and we are concerned about their hygiene also and we try to do that in a clean environment.

Animals, like humans, have proper digestion and people want their pets to practice as we humans do; some even train their pets how to use the toilet. They want to get rid of their pet's waste by disposing it at the soonest time possible. The issue with pets is you cannot tell when they want to digest or when they want to pooh (if only they could tell us!).

Pet Waste Composting / Creating Healthy Habits

In addition to being concerned about when our pets need to relieve themselves, there is also the matter of where this process takes place. We have to consider that the area is appropriate for all concerned pet waste disposal.

There are a lot of advantages in composting pet waste. Of course we could take care of our pets minus the inconvenience of finding an appropriate area of disposal. But when all you need is to implement some simple routines why need give it a try?

It's safe for our families, our neighbors, and our environment if we properly dispose and use our pets’ wastes. And in the end we will be rewarded with thriving plant life - nature's way of thanking you for making a little effort.

Pet Waste Composting / Problems

Animal waste is highly recommended to be used in making compost because it makes the soil healthy for the garden and plants. However, there are things to consider. Human and animal waste takes longer to decompose as it has more bacteria that are harder to kill than other decomposing materials such as kitchen and food scraps.

Decomposing when taking place requires a higher temperature than the environment’s temperature where it happens. Manure is harder to decompose because it has a lot of pathogens living in it and it is not easy to kill.

That is the reason why decomposing pet wastes takes longer than decomposing other biodegradable matters. Pathogens are harmful to the human body so when composting pet wastes, we have to wear gloves and not let children and pregnant women get exposed to it.

Pet Waste Composting / Find or Create a Receptacle

To start creating pet wastes compost, we could use the help of pet waste composters for us to be able to segregate our trash properly. If you cannot afford to purchase a pet waste composter, you can improvise. Cats usually dig holes before releasing their manure, and cover it again with soil.

That same procedure is what we can do manually. Dig a hole that is at least three feet deep and three feet wide, dispose your pets’ wastes in the hole but make sure to cover it with plastic so it will not be accessible for children and so that it will not let its bad odor spread with the air in its surroundings.

Animals that are not vegetarian have more smelly wastes than vegetarian animals. Although pet waste is good in making compost, the soil which it is mixed with should not be used for food crops but for ornamental plants only.

http://www.cityfarmer.org/petwaste.html
http://www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/pets/cat/tips/compost-your-pets-waste
EPA pdf: http://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/AK/.../dogwastecomposting2.pdf

Thank you for visiting the Pet Waste Composting 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