Four Things To Look Out For in Pet Poop Bags

Karin Rumli | 18 June, 2021


          
            Four Things To Look Out For in Pet Poop Bags

If you’re like us, cleaning up your fur baby's waste is a non-negotiable part of your daily routine. But did you know that a number of poop bags are made from plastics that are damaging for the environment? 

We believe poop bags should be only three things: good for you, good for your pet and good for the planet. So exactly what should you be looking for when buying it? We’ve rounded it up four key things to keep an eye out for below.

1. Composition

Your pooch’s waste takes 9 weeks to decompose on its own and up to 100 years if it's wrapped up in a plastic poop bag. So be mindful of what you put  your pup's waste into and pay attention to the composition. 
 
You will usually find most poop bags brands advertised it as biodegradable, but you need to check whether they are certified, compostable and can fully biodegrade in the landfill. 
 
The poop bags claimed to be made from plant based might be blended with plastics. The plant based addition will help the conventional plastics to biodegrade into the landfill quicker than the conventional plastics, but it will turn into microplastic. 
 
There are alternatives that can be used, like using bags with combination of plant based PLA e.g. corn starch and PBAT. Long story short, PLA is made from starch rich plants and the PBAT is an oil-based binding agent added to make a product degrade quickly enough to meet the home compostable standards. So, the next time you go poop bags shopping, pay attention to the material composition to ensure they are 100% biodegradable and compostable poop bags.
 
compostable poop bags leak free
 

2. Packaging

"Australians throw away around 1.9 million tonnes of packaging each year – enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground nine times over. Packaging takes a lot of energy, water and other natural resources to produce, and packaging waste pollutes our air, water and soil."

Many poop bags come in a variety of packaging styles, from a set of box, or sadly in plastics, then wrapped again inside the plastic satchel or box for delivery. Compare products and choose items that comes package-free or with less packaging whenever possible. Try to buy in bulk rather than low quantity will also help reduce the packaging.

That's why we chose to make our poop bags come naked 100% package free. We put them in a mailing box or compostable satchel and put minimal padding of recycled paper to be securely delivered to your door!   

compostable poop bags package free

3. Core Roll material

The more eco-friendly or lesser material the better! Look for core made from recycled cardboard or even nothing at all where possible. We often deemed core roll as convenient, it makes the bags roll easily as we tear them out. However, some rolls still have core roll made from plastic hiding inside it, so beware and do further research about it.

poop bags core roll from recycled paper
 

4. Shelf Life

Dog poop bags is a necessity for most pet parents and you often stock extra, just in case. Did you know that the truly compostable bags are made from natural material? Just as groceries, it has recommended shelf life so it is important they are ideally used within the timeframe and kept in a cool dark space, otherwise they may start to break down. If you find bags claimed to be  compostable with a long shelf life, question again as they may not be 100% made from natural material.

Resource:

Sustainable and Reduce Packaging by VIC Gov

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