Eco friendly Poop Bags
Welcome to the latest wht contributor, Winnie, authoring the latest Green Monday review!
Everyone these days is doing their part to be more green. We’ve found that a lot of the animal lovers are especially keen in making changes to be more eco-conscious with their pet products. Our review of Poop Bags is for all the dog owners out there who ever wondered if it’s worth the expense to buy biodegradable bags versus “recycling” the freebies from the supermarket (we’re not “quote crazy” at wht, it’s just that there’s not a whole lot of recycling going on when using plastic bags as makeshift poop trash bags).
About 2 years ago, the state of California legally required grocery stores to recycle plastic shopping bags. Some chains talked about getting rid of them completely, while others decided to charge a small fee to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. Of course, this was the all the talk of NPR, as I listened, I thought to myself, “I do my part. I bring my own bags and I reuse the plastic ones I do get to pick up after my dogs”. Then the story continued about how it long it takes for these bags to decompose – estimates were anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years, – basically they just never go away.
Then I started thinking, I have three dogs, one of which I’ve had for over 13 years. I started doing the numbers in my head. Calculating for just my oldest dog, Adam, who I adopted in NYC in 1996, using/throwing away at least 2 bags a day, (hmm..times that by 365 = 730, times that by 11 – because I stopped using plastic two years ago) and it comes to 8,030 plastic bags! Adam is just ONE small (and mean) Jack Russell in this big plastic bag-using world and look at the damage he’s done. Contributing over 8,000 bags in his lifetime; they are probably still out there on some garbage barge floating around NJ! I wasn’t doing my part by “recycling” plastic bags; I was a part of the problem. This had to stop.
First I went to my local pet store and they had those blue bags, but they cost so much money. Plus the largest quantity you could buy in one package was only 50. With three dogs, that wasn’t going to work. I would be going back and fourth to the pet store all the time. Then I started doing some online research and that is where I found PoopBags.com!
The name alone is great, there’s certainly no question as to what they’re selling. The more I read about the company and its founder, Paul the more I knew I wanted to give them my business. Not only is their website humorous, especially Paul’s story about how he came about selling poop bags as a full time job (and the reactions he got from his friends and family). Additionally, PoopBags.com gives back to their community (they’re from the great city of Chicago) and they have a fun time with a product that’s really not that funny (we beg to differ – poop is always funny~wht).
On a more serious note, PoopBags.com is also very informative, for instance not all biodegradable bags are made the same. Poop Bags meet all of the highest specifications for biodegradable product claims. Their bags decompose in 60-90 days, roughly the same as an apple core. That sure is a lot better then 500-1,000 years!
Plus, their prices beat all the others and shipping is free! I’ve been buying from PoopBags.com for about 2 years and have never had any problems. They sell a great product, are super friendly and prompt. My shipment gets to me within a few days. I love this company! I buy in bulk (600 at a time but you can buy in smaller quantities) twice a year. My dogs have been holding up their heads higher knowing that they’re green, especially Adam! (That’s him in his snazzy bow-tie).
Thanks to the nice people at Poop Bags for sending some green hued Poop Bags for me to share with the pet owners of the wht review team.
Testers! Has this review encouraged you to make the permanent switch to biodegradable Poop Bags?
Readers – what’s the scoop? How do you handle pet poop?
(8 votes, average: 4.88 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
Loading ...Filed in: green monday,pets & kids,reviews
I don’t own a puppy but this product sounds so great I told some of my puppy owning friends about it! (all dogs are puppies to me. Yes, I’m that girl…) I know some of them have that same feeling about re-using plastic bags, so this review will be an eye-opener.
And I totally agree. Poop? ALWAYS funny.
I’m guilty of using the grocery store bags too. I use them not only for dog poop, but for all sorts of things I’m going to throw in the trash. I guess I never really thought about how I’m still throwing them away into a landfill instead of recycling them. I’m going to check out poopbags.com (love that name!) and do my part to be kinder to the Earth. Thanks Winnie for a great post and good reminder about recycling.
I never use the grocery store bags for poop because those suckers have holes in them! Ewwwwwwww…*shudder* I do use those biodegradable blue bags for Bindhi, but only if we’re traveling or taking her on walks. The rest of the time, she goes in her own corner in the yard and her deuces biodegrade on their own. When we had our other dog, Molly, we’d have to use the bags more frequently because she was a poop machine, but Bindhi is little, so her leavings are little, too. These poop bags Bindhi tested (really, if I tested them, that would be more than a little gross) worked great. They’re poop bags, so I don’t know what else I can say about them. It’d be amazing if they could pick up the poop for me b/c I hate doing it and it’s gross :P
I don’t know offhand how much it costs us to get the blue bags, so I’d have to compare prices, but I’m all for saving money where I can. I really do think it’s important to pick up after your dog and be a responsible pet owner, but being socially responsible and using biodegradable bags is equally important.
I have a neighbor who isn’t into the whole curb your dog thing. He says “if I pick the poop up and put it in a plastic bag it will never go away. If I let it where he poops it will go away. It may walk away on your shoe but one way or another it goes away”. Jerk! I gave him some of the bags he kinda blew me off but I caught him using them twice. Last week I asked him what he thought, he said he likes that the unused bag fits in his pocket and that it isn’t hard to slide the bag on your arm and pick up the poo. Big shopping bags flap in the wind or the handles end up in he poo, you feel stupid walkig around with a polka dotted Target bag blah….blah… blah…he was so excited I honestly had to tell him it was TMI. He swears he is telling his wife to order them because “computers aint my thing” 5 solid stars from a reformed poo leaver and I give it an extra 5 from my shoes that won’t be seeing poo on their soles. Can’t wait to order my X-large bags for cleaning my bunny cages out!
I have to admit, I’m totally guilty of thinking I was recycling plastic bags by using them as cat liter bags, lining small trashcans with them and picking up after the weiner dog. I do have a number of totes to use instead of taking plastic bags, but I always seemed to find myself shopping without them. Thanks for the gentle reminder Winnie (aka Bronwen)! I liked the green bags for all the reasons mentioned, especially how they are easier to tuck away for later use, as well as for the sturdiness. (Krista, it’s true, half the plastic bags I received had holes in them immediately.)
I used the bags for cat liter maintenance (my plumbing does not like the flushable liter) and love them. The small size means I have to clean the liter daily (my roomie approves) and I’ve been making a huge effort to keep a couple of my totes with me whenever I leave the house so I never have to take another dreaded plastic bag. They have some variations in sizes and cat liter liner as well, so I’m going to explore my options.
Alyssa – I think I could live until I’m 100 and still think all things poop is funny – and thanks for sharing the story with your friends!
Susan – I love your story! Way to turn things around on the dog poop leaving man! I bet he’s used that excuse with other people (grr.. do I hate people who leave their dogs poo in public areas) successfully. I would have loved to have seen his face when you helpfully solved his problem!
Tyna Werner´s last blog ..Green Monday recipe – Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
I really, really loved these poop bags. Really.
I want to be more environmentally conscious but I always seem to fall short. I, too, save supermarket bags thinking that I’m doing a good thing putting them to use as doggie poop bags. I have also purchased the blue bags. The problem with the blue bags is threefold: (1) they are expensive and (2) are not readilly available (frequent trips to PetCo are a must), and (3) they have an odor.
The expense part of the problem is negligable: it’s more than nothing, but not a lot. The readilly available part is more difficult: I never seem to be at a PetCo/PetSmart when I need to get more poop bags. The grocery stores don’t seem to stock them either.
The odor part is a bit more bothersome. You see, the odor of the bags is meant to be a “pleasant scent,” a deodorant, if you will. I don’t buy it. When I start to identify a scent with the odor which it is meant to cover, suddenly, the odor becomes the scent. Get it? Both seem to be equally offensive. Think Mennen Speed Stick deodorant. If you smell it you know someone is sweating and that “fresh scent” is merely disguised BO. Therefore, I smell “powder fresh” poop bags and I smell dog shit. Sorry ’bout that, I do.
Anywho, these bags have no scent/odor. Their texture is a thick and slightly rubbery so I don’t feel like I’m wrapping my fingers ’round warm poo (nor do my hands smell as though I’ve just handled warm poo or its scent-alternative). I like that. Environmental Do? Well that’s just a superfantastic plus. Well done, Poop Bags! 5 smellriffic stars.
I’m all about recycling. I’m constantly digging things out of the trash can that can go into recycling instead. I am also one of those people that thought that reusing grocery store bags for a variety of purposes – cleaning up dog poop in the yard or lining my bathroom trashcans – was actually “recycling” them. I stopped doing that (for the most part) and bought the sturdy canvas-like bags from Target or Giant or Wegmans and even Wal-Mart. The problem is that I usually forget to bring the bags into the store with me and gain another 5-10 plastic bags to “reuse” at home. Recently I started returning them to the recycle bin in the lobby of my Giant and feel a little better about perpetuating the cycle.
We don’t live in the city where we need to take our dogs for a walk to do their business…we just open the back door and let them do their duty in our spacious .10 of an acre. HAHA That being said…my dogs are BIG. I have two Golden Retrievers and can’t understand how they (in one day) can cover the back yard with up to 8 piles of poop. We have a pooper scooper and the hubby transfers the poop into a regular kitchen garbage bag to dispose of it in the trash can. Not much better than using the grocery bags, right? So…what’s a gal to do? I was excited about these bags, but I was concerned about the size of them because our dogs don’t leave toy-sized poops. I wanted them to be a little bigger and was afraid to use them. I split them up and gave them to two of my friends with (much) smaller dogs. One friend lost them in her move and was unable to provide any insight on the product. The other friend has a beagle-mix puppy and is also going green and wants to do her part to reuse and recycle. She really liked them, but said that it felt like there was too much plastic and that it almost felt wasteful. Thankfully they are 100% biodegradable. I did like the thickness of the product because (unlike the grocery bags) it didn’t feel like you were going to be touching anything warm and mushy, I just wish that the size of the bags was a little bigger.
I’ll rate the product 4 out of 5 stars.
Revision – I just saw on the website that they do have “jumbo-sized” poop bags…so I’ll give them 5 out of 5 stars!!!!
I totally agree poop.. always funny!
Your little Adam is such a handsome guy!! :)
These bags sure come in handy! 100% biodegradable, come on how can you go wrong! I have two small doggies and these worked great, for their mini poops… ha
I saw on their site they even have flushable bags! and Poop bag holders for your leash.. they have it all. Even T-shirts.. pretty hilarious!! :)
I have officially switched to these bags and only wish I had known about them earlier.. I was using Grocery bags before too =(
5 stars from this now green picker upper.
Ha! When I first read the title to this post in my eNewsletter, I didn’t know what to expect. Now, I don’t have a dog but a cat. I used paper bags to scoop the poop out daily before the weekly clean out. I also recycled pine as litter (clumping clay actually makes my allergies flare up). It’s good that there are products for all aspects of our lives that we can use to make the planet greener.