Reducing use of plastics?

[razz]

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/calculate-your-plastic-footprint-world-oceans-day-refuse-reduce-reuse-recycle?utm_campaign=Plastic_Footprint&utm_medium=Web&utm_source=PromoBox_300x150&utm_content=TWN_Generic

This quiz got me thinking.

How does one pick up dog poop and transport it to a waste bin without a plastic poop bag?

I don't deliberately choose cellpaks but bulk peaches and nectarines come in them to protect the fruit. The cost for individual fruit is high in comparison so how to reduce the cellpak use?

I refuse plastic shopping bags using my recyclable washable ones instead. Bulk Romaine lettuce comes in plastic wrapped packages of 3 or 6. How to reduce the plastic there?

There are so many questions and types of plastic in use today.

I am looking for suggestions to my challenges and also the challenges that you are facing in reducing your plastic footprint.

[Rogar]

I’m not a pet owner, but was under the impression there are supposedly bio degradable bags that are not made of plastic made especially for pet clean up.

Maybe something to look up?

[Chicken lady]

Use the packaging from your food for the pet poop?

I buy the non-packaged fruit. I can afford to make some choices about spending money, and paying a little more to avoid plastic is one of them. I buy less fruit than I might if there were more package free options. But sometimes it’s either packaged or none. Depending on the day I will either give up having cherries or grapes, or surrender to the plastic and buy them.

shopping at farmer’s markets when and if you can helps avoid packaging and supports your local economy.

growing your own works too.

[razz]

I’m not a pet owner, but was under the impression there are supposedly bio degradable bags that are not made of plastic made especially for pet clean up.

Maybe something to look up?

I did look it up and read rather a negative review of the biodegradables before so looked it up again this morning and found this info link:
https://www.rover.com/blog/truth-about-biodegradable-poop-bags-in/#
Not sure if disposing of dog poop in town sewage system is doable. Will have to check. I won't use a compostable dog poop system as the reviews were very negative.

[Rogar]

I did look it up and read rather a negative review of the biodegradables before so looked it up again this morning and found this info link:
https://www.rover.com/blog/truth-about-biodegradable-poop-bags-in/#
Not sure if disposing of dog poop in town sewage system is doable. Will have to check. I won't use a compostable dog poop system as the reviews were very negative.

Interesting. It does seem like there are plant based poop bags and without making a study of it, it would seem like those are at least better than plastics that persist in the environment almost forever. Their alternate suggestions seem far from convenient, if not impractical, although I like the idea of burying the refuse in rural areas. I end up with cardboard food packages that go to the recycler. Some of these seem like the the right size.

Along our open spaces, which are close to the big city and get a lot of visitors, it is common to see poop bags left along the trails. Why people would bother to bag refuse and then just leave it is beyond me. There are signs at many of the trail heads saying, "there is no such thing as the poop fairy".

[Zoe Girl]

Haha, no poop fairy. I have a cat and use paper lunch sacks. Sometimes I need to put several in a plastic bag for the mess. Paper lunch sacks actually take care of some ways we typically use plastic out of habit. I carry my reusable soda cup with straw in my car, as well as a hot and a cold starbucks one. I. Do drink soda sometimes and the cup is awesome.

I get challenged with packaging of fresh food, so irritating,. I started getting loose leaf lettuce and using my salad spinner to make a huge package of lettuce at the beginning of the week. Not all stores have lettuce like this however.

[Teacher Terry]

For my little dogs I use a Kleenex. When I had my big dog I reused the plastic bags I get at the grocery store.

[razz]

I do recycle my plastic bags for waste. etc., but have been declining them at stores whenever I could. So that leave bread bags. Plastics like produce bags have air holes in them so no good for dog poop.
I just wanted to check to see if I was missing or not including some plastic-reducing ideas.

[mschrisgo2]

We used to use the plastic bags the newspapers were delivered in, or the old newspapers. No newspapers now, read on line to cut down on clutter, save trees, etc.
i buy the 1000 bags for 14.99 on Amazon, they are very thin, so I can’t imagine they wouldn’t decompose.

[Chicken lady]

Decomposition is a process in which organic compounds are broken down into simpler organic compounds. It doesn’t matter how thin or small plastic is. Unless specifically formulated and then handled as directed, it doesn’t decompose. It just breaks into smaller pieces of plastic.

when my kids visit with the dog, they either leave the dog poop in the woods, or scoop it up with a shovel into a flowerpot and then toss it in the woods. If you are disposing of dog poop in a trash can that already has a plastic liner, perhaps you could scoop it into a reusable carrying device.

[razz]

When one thinks of all the pets and their waste, one realizes how big this volume of waste really is.

[Teacher Terry]

My little dogs are pad trained so I just flush their poop.

[Gardnr]

We don't use any bag for cat debris. It goes straight into our trash bin that also doesn't get lined with plastic. We occasionally clean it. We've never purchased garbage bags-it's a habit I have never understood.

[mschrisgo2]

Well, I guess I’m doomed and so is the environment. I have never lived any where that flushing a bag of dog poo would be acceptable. [Geez, they have launched a campaign for people to stop washing contact lenses down the drain!] It cannot go in the green waste recycle bin. No allowed to bury anything. I have neighbors with small dogs who leave it out “to dry” and only pick up once a week- meanwhile it’s a breeding ground for flies for the whole neighborhood. I called our sanitation department and asked about separate composting of animal waste. They laughed at me!

[Chicken lady]

You don’t flush a bag of dog poo, you just flush the dog poo. You pick it up with a scoop or flushable paper product depending on the size of the dog.

[Teacher Terry]

Gard, so I assume you don’t throw food in your garbage? No I am not flushing plastic bags. The dogs are 5 lbs.

[mschrisgo2]

**flushing a compostable bag of dog poo was one of the acceptable disposals mentioned in the article referenced.

Bagged and into the garbage bin, that’s where “they” want it to go.
i agree it’s not ideal, but I live in an urban area.

[Teacher Terry]

I pick up dog poop with toilet paper and flush. Never heard of bags that degrade.

[lmerullo]

There are poo bags made of a plant based starch. I wonder if the purpose of those bags is to pick up the dog waste when it's located in an exposed area (well traveled sidewalk or roadside) and then toss it to a place where it can break down, like the brush of nonresidential lots? It's a thought that didn't occur to me until i read this thread

[Chicken lady]

When I clean the litter box I toss the cat poop in an out of the way location in our woods. I would never leave animal poop on someone else’s property!

(the goat and rabbit poo goes to the garden or stays in the field. Yay herbivores!)

[Gardnr]

Gard, so I assume you don’t throw food in your garbage?

Veg/fruit waste goes in compost. Meat fat/bone waste does go in the garbage.

[pinkytoe]

I don't live there anymore but the city of Austin has curbside composting. They accept meat, bones, fish scraps along with yard waste and food scraps.

[Rogar]

There are poo bags made of a plant based starch. I wonder if the purpose of those bags is to pick up the dog waste when it's located in an exposed area (well traveled sidewalk or roadside) and then toss it to a place where it can break down, like the brush of nonresidential lots? It's a thought that didn't occur to me until i read this thread

Outwardly that does not seem like a good idea. I could see it being a big problem if everyone starting doing that. I have camped in some pretty remote locations and the standard back country rule is to carry a small trowel or shovel and bury human waste. Some of the more popular National Parks have a big poop problem and have proposed packing it out as a requirement. I suppose if you lived way out in the boonies, it might work. It seems acceptable for livestock in open grazing lands.