DIY Pets: Make Your Own Pet Poop Composter

In honor of Earth Day (Happy Earth Day!), here's one way to make your pets a little more eco-friendly: compost their poop!  Yeah yeah, even the staff here gave me weird looks when I brought it up.  But here's the thing: if you care about your pets' impact on the environment, the waste they create is a big stinkin' deal.

The two ways people generally choose to deal with poop are as follows:

1. Bag it up and throw it away
2. Leave it where it falls and try not to step in it later

There are problems with of these approaches, unfortunately.  In #1, you're taking something (#2, to be precise) that would normally break down very quickly, tossing it into a plastic bag that will take a bazillion years to break down, and then shipping it off to sit in a landfill, which it will probably continue to do long after we've all died.  If you, like me, live in an apartment, have no yard, and must by necessity bag up poo, that's ok!  Just use biodegradable bags, so the poo isn't still around when your grandchildren have dogs of their own.  If you're having trouble finding a source of biodegradable bags in your area, consult the internet; you'll find them in a jiffy.

Poop solution #2 - the ignore it and it'll go away approach - seems like a better solution, right?  It doesn't involve plastic or landfills or anybody's grandkids.  Unfortunately, though, it does involve a whole mess of diseases that can wander out of that poop and into the water supply: fecal coliform bacteria, E. coli, and giardia, to name a few.  These gross little critters are unhealthy for anybody coming into contact with them, obviously, but they're also damaging to aquatic ecosystems.  So letting poop disappear on its own isn't a very eco-friendly (or healthy, or aesthetically pleasing) approach, either.  If you're not in the habit of picking up poo every time it happens, try and make a point of tidying up every few days (with biodegradable bags, of course!).  Or, better yet, try out Poop Solution #3 (and, conveniently enough, the subject of this post):

Make Your Own Pet Poop Composter!

Do you garden?  Do your pets poop?  If you answered yes to both of those questions, poop composting is for you!  Here's how to build your own pet poop compost bin.

What you'll need: 

• A plastic trash can or bucket with lid - 2 gallons or more.  You're basically going to destroy this thing, so don't spend a lot of money on it; if you can get it second-hand, go that route.  Beat up is ok.  As for what size you'll need, consider 2 things: the quantity of poop you'll be composting, and the fact that you're going to have to dig a hole big enough to sink this thing into the ground.  The size and quantity of your pets should be a deciding factor.  And you definitely want a lid.  Don't forget a lid. 
• Gravel
• Septic Starter
• Box cutter or some other sharp implement that you can use to safely cut the bottom off of your trash can/bucket
•  Drill
• Shovel

What you'll need to do: 

1. Prepare your trash can: drill drainage holes in the sides and cut out the bottom. 
2. Pick a location!  Look for a flat area, a good distance away from any water supply and from any fruit or vegetable gardens; poop compost is great for flowers, trees, shrubs, etc. but shouldn't be used on anything you're going to eat.  If you're already composting non-poop materials, place your poop compost a good distance away from your other compost, too, to avoid any poop contamination.
3. Get diggin'.  You need to sink your trash can/bucket into the ground so that it sits with the top just an inch or two above ground level. 
4. Place your trash can/bucket into the hole and fill in around it until it's well-planted and stable.
5. Pour in a layer of gravel/rocks for filtration - 5-6" deep is a good ballpark.  How much gravel you'll need for that layer will depend on the size of your can/bucket.
6. Toss in your poop collection!  Smaller chunks break down faster.  I'm not saying you have to mash up the poop, but you'll see results quicker if you do.  
7. Add septic starter (you can find this at most hardware stores).
8. Add enough water to make a good, soaked poop-soup.
9. Put a lid on it!  It may be a good idea to decorate the lid in some way that clearly marks what's inside so that no curious passer-by is tempted to interfere.  
10. Toss in poop as it happens, plus any of the following items as you see fit: 
• Cat poop (ONLY if you use an all-natural litter, which you should be anyway if you're an eco-conscious pet owner...say no to clay litter!) 
• Grass clippings
• Leaves and plant matter
• Sawdust (this is a bonus if you use pine cat litter)
• Straw or hay
• More septic starter as needed to break stuff down
11. Add some water once a month or so - you don't want the bin overflowing, but water does help keep things moving. 

You should start getting some great soil from your compost bin within about a month of getting started!  Garden away, secure in the knowledge that your pets' poop is not only not hurting the environment, it's making your flowers prettier.  Just flowers, though; remember, poop compost is not for edible things. 

If you're interested in learning about some other ways to make your pets eco-friendly, clickity click on over here!  It's not all about poop, after all.  It just seems like it, some days.