Dog Poop Bags Review

As the saying goes, &#;Sh*t happens,&#; and as every responsible dog owner knows, cleaning up after their dogs is an absolute must. For those of us who try to be good stewards of the environment, biodegradable poop bags seem like a smart choice. Who wants to think of their dog&#;s poop festering away in a traditional polymer bag designed to survive a zombie apocalypse?

For more information, please visit our website.

Unfortunately, the term &#;biodegradable&#; isn&#;t all it&#;s cracked up to be. When it comes to dog waste bags, Kermit the Frog was right: It&#;s not easy being green.

&#;Biodegradable&#; means &#;being of a substance or object capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.&#; The definition offers no parameters as to how long it will take to achieve decomposition. Will a traditional polymer bag eventually degrade? Sure. But ecologists estimate it takes about 10 to 20 years in the environment and 1,000 years in a landfill. 

&#;Landfills are built to exclude air, light, and water, so things that are in there will be there for a lifetime,&#; says Bob Borrows, a waste-policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Another problem? When traditional plastic bags degrade, they leave behind microplastics that contaminate the environment.

COMPOSTABLE DOG POOP BAGS

At this juncture, our recommended course of action is to buy compostable poop bags. &#;Compostable&#; is defined as being made of &#;organic matter able to be made into compost.&#; Today, many eco-minded manufacturers of pet waste bags offer a product line of compostable bags. 

Most compostable pet waste bags are considered bioplastics; they look, feel and perform like plastic, but are typically made from renewable resources such as plant starch and are designed to breakdown via microbial activity. In a commercial composting facility, this can take about 90 days. If the bag is rated for home composting, the process can take 180 to 360 days, depending on climate and condition of the composting environment. 

Further, we recommend looking for compostable bags that are ASTM D600 certified. ASTM is a voluntary standards organization, and D certification ensures the product will successfully degrade in a way that will not negatively diminish the value or utility of the resulting compost. 

That&#;s great news! But there&#;s some bad news: These plant-based bags are more expensive to produce than conventional plastic bags; your cost for fewer bags may be twice what you&#;d pay for plastic.

Moreover, while plant-based bags and poop are compostable, few commercial composting facilities in the United States accept pet waste &#; so you can&#;t just toss that bag of poo into the green yard trimmings bin with alacrity. And, while it&#;s not impossible, creating the ideal recipe for a high-temperature compost (needed to kill pathogens) at home can be challenging. 

So why opt for the added expense and effort to source plant-based bags if they&#;re still likely to linger in a landfill?

Companies making the effort to produce waste bags that conform to compostability standards are, in general, striving to be earth-friendly in all facets of business. Using sustainable raw materials in a plant-based waste bag is still more eco-conscious than producing traditional polymer bags. Plus, it&#;s another small step we can all take to reduce our dependence on products made from fossil fuels. 

OUR TOP PICKS FOR PLANT-BASED DOG WASTE BAGS

We selected five popular brands of plant-based dog waste bags that conformed to the ASTM D standard. That standard looks at product compostability, including whether or not the degradation of the material may diminish the value or utility of the resulting compost. 

Of the five brands, two (Doggy Do Good and Give A Sh!t) are also certified by TUV Austria (a European standards organization) for home composting.

Worth noting: It&#;s recommended that vegetable-based bags be kept in a cool, dry area and be used within a year of purchase.

All five brands feel durable. None of the bags tore improperly from the roll, all five were easy to open, and all withstood a reasonable amount of stretching and tugging. 

In looking at our third-place bags, these products received a lower rating only because they failed to survive a pocketed trip through the washer and drier (a common occurrence for most dog owners!). 

Also, in the case of the BioBag product, we marked it down for being substantially smaller, making it more difficult to flip the bag inside out to encase the mess without feeling like the mess was dangerously close to your hand. If you obsessively check your pockets on laundry day, or pick up after a small dog, these minor issues may not affect you. 

RECOMMENDED COMPOSTABLE PET WASTE BAGS

WDJ RatingProduct Name & MakerPrice SizeComments 4 out of 4 PawsDoggy Do Good Premium Pet Waste Bags
doggydogood.com$9.99 for 6 rolls of 10 bags on Amazon13.4&#; x 7&#; Folded; 13.4&#; x 11&#; with gussets expanded

20 microns thickUnscented. ASTM D Certified. These bags can handle a big load! Core made from recycled material. We like that they&#;re also available as handle bags on a roll and a dispenser box. Large enough to accommodate litter box cleaning and diaper disposal. Company donates to six different animal welfare organizations on a quarterly basis. Survived the laundry test! 4 out of 4 PawsLucky Dog PoopBags
luckydogpoopbags.com$6.99 for 4 rolls of 15 bags on Amazon13&#; x 9&#;

17 microns thickUnscented. Plenty big enough to &#;glove up&#; and handle the job. From an environmental standpoint, we like that Lucky Dog rolls don&#;t have a core, however, that does mean rolls won&#;t work as well in most traditional rolled-bag dispensers. We appreciate the detailed explanation of conditions needed for biodegradation. Company donates 1% of profits to environmental causes. Survived the laundry test! The lighter color does little to disguise the contents, and we wish the bags were also available as a boxed bulk roll. 3 out of 4 PawsGive a Sh*t Poop Bags
giveasht.com$12.99 for 8 rolls of 15 bags on Amazon12.5&#; x 9&#;

18 microns thickUnscented. Nice large size. Packaging and core made from recycled material. We like that the company offers a plastic-free dispenser made of canvas that also has room for keys and treats. Bonus points for the punny company name and cute line drawings of dogs on the bags. Company donates 10% of profits to animal protection charities. Survived the laundry test! We do wish the bags were also available as a boxed bulk roll. 2.5 out of 4 PawsEarth Rated Compostable Poop Bags
earthrated.com$8 for 6 rolls of 10 bags on Amazon13&#; x 9&#;

20 microns thickAvailable in unscented and lavender scented. Large size. Packaging and core made from recycled materials. Company makes both certified compostable bags and bags made from polyethylene with an additive said to accelerate degradation in a landfill environment &#;when the bag is exposed to anaerobic landfill conditions (heat, oxygen, agitation and moisture).&#; We find this claim confusing since, by definition, &#;anaerobic&#; means &#;without oxygen.&#; The Earth Rated poop bag did not survive the laundry test; it melted onto itself while pocketed in the drier, rendering it unusable. 2.5 out of 4 PawsBio Bag Pet Waste Bags
biobagpet.com$4.99 for 50 bags on Amazon11.5&#; x 8&#;

23 microns thickUnscented. The smallest of all the bags we tried. Company website says product is also available in a larger size, but it was difficult to find and considerably more expensive on Amazon. Most readily available as a 50-bag perforated-top flat pack. We appreciate that the company notes the bags are designed to be composted in a municipal/industrial facility and acknowledges that such a facility may not exist in the purchaser&#;s area. Packaging also refers users to findacomposter.com, to aid in the search for an appropriate facility. The Bio Bag did not survive the laundry test; it melted into itself while pocketed in the drier, rendering it useless.

Leaders In Canine Compost Capability

While traditional composting facilities in the United States aren&#;t jumping at the chance to add pet waste to their roster of acceptable feed streams, a handful of forward-thinking entrepreneurs and citizens&#; groups are successfully implementing pet-waste composting programs to help reduce the carbon footprint of man&#;s best friend. 

EnviroWagg in Aurora, Colorado, built an entire business out of composting dog feces, compostable bags and all, by partnering with a local residential dog-waste cleanup service and several area dog parks. The composted waste becomes Doggone Good Potting Soil, available online and in select Colorado retail locations. Owner Rose Seemann even wrote a related book, The Pet Poo Pocket Guide: How to Safely Compost and Recycle Pet Waste.

Similarly, a handful of dog parks and open space areas throughout the United States have started composting programs, including Marsha P. Johnson State Park (formerly East River State Park) in Brooklyn. Dog-owning park guests contribute to the enclosed pile using available scoopers or rapidly degradable paper waste bags. Sawdust is added to create the proper carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and the compost pile is carefully attended to and monitored by park staff. The resulting fertilizer is used only on ornamental plants and flowers throughout the park, and, as an added precaution, away from children&#;s playground areas. 

Canadians are even more ahead of the game, with some areas allowing pet waste contained in certified compostable bags in green bins meant for yard trimmings, and many professional poop-scooping services, such as Turd Wranglers of Chilliwick, BC, offer both scooping services and a stand-alone waste removal service for owners happy to scoop or bag-up pet waste themselves, but who wish to keep the &#;doody deeds&#; out of the landfill by paying to have the waste delivered to an appropriate facility.

Get on the Paper Train: Pooch Paper

HuaWei are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

Ready to ditch pet waste bags all together? Enter Pooch Paper, a large sheet of recycled, non-chlorine-bleached, coated paper &#; sort of like wax paper. It&#;s strong enough to grab our test dog&#;s considerable-sized pile, but it required a little more focus to entrap the mess within the paper, which doesn&#;t conform to your hand as well as a pet waste bag. It was easier to use on dirt and very short grass. I struggled to grasp a mess in plush grass when individual &#;poo nuggets&#; separated from the pile and sank into the grass.  It&#;s a bit like the dexterity one has wearing a glove versus wearing a mitten.  Even though waste bags cover the hand like a mitten, they still allow for a trickier clean up. I&#;d trust Pooch Paper to a somewhat soft pile of poo, but anything resembling diarrhea would be a no-go.

Once the mess is contained in the paper, you just twist up the edges and carry it by the top of the bundle until you find an appropriate receptacle. With a twist of the wrist (versus a knot) being all that keeps the mess contained, I wouldn&#;t want to travel too far before pitching the poo. 

Pooch Paper comes in a box of individually folded sheets. It would take some care to stash a few sheets in a pocket or the zippered &#;Pooch Pouch&#; leash attachment (sold separately). I&#;m not sold on Pooch Paper for a long outing with the potential for multiple poops along the way &#; but this could be a great alternative to bags for apartment dwelling dog owners on quick &#;potty runs&#; throughout the day. Pooch Paper&#;s main benefit? It&#;s really, truly, fully biodegradable and compostable. $13 for 50 small (12&#; x12&#;) sheets or $13.50 for 50 large sheets (14&#; x 14&#;) at poochpaper.com. 

This got us thinking: If your pet&#;s pile can be easily contained in a 12&#; sheet of paper, why not use unbleached compostable parchment paper, which can be torn to whatever length you desire? This could be a viable option for owners of small dogs with smaller &#;piles,&#; and, at just $3.50 for 45&#;, is very economical!

We are reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn affiliate commission.

Are dog poop bags really biodegradable? Or are they some marketing ploy to attract pet owners like you who care about the planet? It turns out that there are biodegradable doggy doo bags, safe enough to throw away without polluting the environment. 

To clarify, not all biodegradable poop bags are biodegradable. Some are more earth-friendly than others. Therefore, you may see a product that claims to be biodegradable and think it&#;ll break down within a year. However, that&#;s not always the case. Yet, searching for biodegradable poop bags for your furry friend can take time, especially when you&#;re unsure of what to look for. Nevertheless, you can tell which dog poop bags are really biodegradable by understanding what it says on the packaging.

Knowing Which Dog Poop Bags Are Really Biodegradable

Some companies claim their products are biodegradable. However, it&#;s essential to be careful about which doggy bags you buy. While the packaging may say the product will naturally break down over time, you want to be sure it does what it says. So, how can you tell which dog poop bags are really biodegradable? Certain factors give you an indication, including the following:

• Certifications: Pet parents should look for certifications from ASTM or TÜV AUSTRIA. These ensure the bags meet strict compostability standards, breaking down within a specific timeframe under composting conditions. 
• Ingredients or materials: You can also check what the bags are made of. On the labeling, it will tell you the materials or components it contains. When checking this, look for plant-based materials like cornstarch or other biopolymers, as these decompose quickly and safely.
• Customer reviews and feedback: Another excellent way to confirm a dog poop bag is really biodegradable is through customer reviews. Some customers will leave truthful insights into how the bag performs regarding biodegradability and durability.

Use these indicators to guide your decisions. When you take the time to do a little research, you can ensure you&#;re making the right choice.

Dog Poop Bags That Are Biodegradable

When looking for doggy poop bags that are really biodegradable, here are a few recommendations.

1. BioBags

One of the most popular choices for eco-conscious pet owners is BioBag. These bags are made primarily from plant starches and other renewable resources. They also meet the ASTM D standards for compostability. BioBags break down in a compost environment within three to six months, turning into organic matter. They&#;re strong and leak-proof, making them a practical, eco-friendly alternative for dog waste disposal. 

2. Pooch Paper

Pooch Paper is an excellent alternative to traditional paper plastic dog poop bags. These eco-friendly sheets are made from recycled paper that is biodegradable and compostable. Pooch paper is unlike any other dog poop bag &#; it doesn&#;t contribute to plastic waste and decomposes naturally within weeks. 

Each sheet is grease-resistant and large enough to accommodate waste from dogs of all sizes. Pooch paper is a great option for dog owners, as all they have to do is pick up the dog waste, twist the paper, and toss it in the trash. 

3. Earth Rated

Earth Rated&#;s products achieve a balance of eco-friendliness and functionality. Its bags are available in compostable and recycled plastic versions. The compostable options are made from vegetable-based material and adhere to the ASTM D standards. On the other hand, their recycled plastic bags offer a more durable option while reducing environmental impact.

Earth Rated&#;s products have a leak-proof design and a pleasant lavender scent. That makes picking up after your pet more bearable and reduces plastic waste. 

4. PoopBags

PoopBags has various environmentally responsible dog waste bags and other products. The company offers options, from ones made from plant matter to others made from recycled materials. Their ASTM D-certified bags are fully compostable and decompose quickly in a proper composting environment.

5. Eco Poop Bags

Eco Poop Bags is another great choice for eco-conscious dog owners. Its products are 100% biodegradable and compostable, made 100% from cornstarch, allowing them to break down within 90 days. They also have a leak-proof design with an anti-microbial additive to make cleaning up poop more hygienic. These bags also comply with global standards like ASTM and provide a practical solution for eliminating dog waste while reducing plastic waste.

Better Ways to Dispose of Dog Waste

You may decide you want to skip bags altogether to guarantee you&#;re protecting the environment. One effective method is composting in the backyard. Consider grabbing a shovel and disposing of your pet&#;s waste into a composter. This will turn it into safer, nutrient-rich soil for your garden beds. However, it&#;s essential to do this for only plants you won&#;t eat. 

Another option is to bury the waste underground. If you live in a rural area, you could conceal the waste in a place away from your home and water sources to prevent contamination. Or, you could install a dog waste digester in your backyard. This is a small in-ground system that works like a mini septic tank. It uses enzymes and bacteria to break down the waste and safely return it to the soil. 

Lastly, some communities offer dog waste collection services or have bio-waste bins. These services often use waste-to-energy methods where it turns dog poop into a resource rather than a problem.

What Else Can I Use Instead of Plastic Bags for Dog Poop?

Some companies have devised some nifty ways for pet owners to clean up their dog&#;s waste. The best part is they reduce single-use plastic by making them reusable, like the Poof. Poof is a nylon disc you can throw under your dog while they&#;re doing their business. As soon as they&#;re done, you can pull the drawstring, gathering the waste into a portable bag. Once you get home, you can throw the contents into your toilet and rinse your Poof for another use. 

Another way to pick up your dog&#;s poop without using plastic baggies is with newspaper. This may be the oldest method, but it works great. Using newspapers means you save money from purchasing bags and use zero plastic. Or, you could buy the typical lunch paper bags. These bags are cheap, durable, and great for throwing out waste without harming the environment. 

Using Dog Poop Bags That Are Really Biodegradable

Now that you understand which dog poop bags are really biodegradable and what to look for, you can clean up after your pet while doing good for the planet. Many eco-friendly methods exist to rid your dog&#;s waste, whether using biodegradable bags or more traditional tactics. Choosing which works best for you will depend on where you live or which adventure you go on with your furry friend.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit biobag dog poop bags.