DOG DUTY
When we started this journey not too long ago, I thought it was going to be super easy to eliminate “single use” plastic from some (not all) of my daily habits. I feel like I am making substantial progress towards reducing my intake of unnecessary plastic, but there are some places where there just isn’t a totally plastic free alternative that I am willing to commit to.
For example: Can I skip those silly plastic produce bags? Absolutely. Having lemons and limes roll around in the back of my car is just a minor inconvenience. BUT, am I willing to pick up my dog’s doodoo in something that has questionable moisture and doodoo permeability? NOPE. Not willing to do that – sorry.
For this particular example, I decided it was time to do some research on what exactly my options were in this department. When it comes down to alternatives for waste bags, the options are generally biodegradable and/or compostable bioplastic options. This is a huge can of worms that we will most likely write an entire blog post on at some point, but the bottom line is that there is too much confusion as a consumer in the area of bioplastics and there is currently not a ton of regulation around the claims that producers of bioplastics make.
The biggest issue for me, since I am currently living on the coast, is what happens to these bags if they somehow end up in the ocean? A lot of bioplastics degrade, but they can end up degrading into just small microplastic shards which doesn’t do the ocean or sea life any good. I wanted to find a waste bag that I could be confident would completely disintegrate in seawater. During my research I came across this report called the B.A.N (Better Alternatives Now) List 2.0. This is a report sponsored by many different conservation organizations to investigate better alternatives for items that currently utilize single use plastics. (another future blog post). One of the relevant parts of this report was a study they did on a few common types of waste bags labeled as "green" to see how they degraded on land and in seawater after 6 months and 12 months. The selection of test bags included:
- A certified oxo-biodegradable bag (Pride Green)
- An “environmentally friendly” polyethylene bag (Bags on Board)
- A certified compostable bag (Bio Bag)
The brand Bio Bag bags were the only ones tested that degraded completely on land and in seawater after 6 and 24 months.
This is due to the fact that they meet the ASTM D6400 standard for compost-ability. “The requirement for a material to pass ASTM D6400 and be considered “compostable” is that the material must reach or exceed 90% conversion of the carbon within the material into carbon dioxide (CO2). In other words, 90% or more of the material would need to be turned into CO2 (converted by micro-organisms) during the time-frame of the test – 180 days”.
(Compostable plastics do NOT create compost, ENSO Plastics Blog)
There are several biodegradable/compostable bags out there with this certification, but this study was what made me go buy these particular bags for Murph dog. I am happy to report that they are holding up well so far- as long as you remember that they are a little more delicate than the normal ones (i.e. don’t get CRAZY).
While these bags are still considered a type of “plastic” (bioplastic), for me they are the best option out there since they completely degrade on land and in the ocean. Baby steps…