Sustainable Uses of Animal Waste and Eco-Friendly Ways to Dispose of Them

Posted by Doocare on October 8th, 2019

Our planet is going through a phase where it needs us humans to awaken to the fact that the old ways of doing things are simply not working. Whether we talk about climate change or depleting natural resources, there is a race towards sustainability. How can we find ways to help the planet by reducing waste and reusing things that we would have generally discarded? These are the questions that have to lead some of the greatest minds of our times to come up with newer and smarter ways to reuse and recycle. 

One of the steps taken is to make smart uses of animal waste. Animal manure for centuries has been considered valuable resources in different countries across the world. In some countries, cow dung is used as fuel in cooking. Responsible handling of animal manure is necessary for the safety of the environment, air and soil quality. 

Some Smart Ways of Managing Animal Waste

• Biogas

We all have read about biogas when we were in school in our science classes. But a practical creation of biogas in various biogas plants requires the use of animal waste, mainly livestock waste. Apart from animal manure, other components used in making biogas are biodegradable substances from our trash like rotten fruits, eggshells, vegetable skins etc.

Biogas is a clean form of fuel and is also renewable which is what makes it great. It solves two problems. One is to find an eco-friendly method of disposing of garbage and animal waste and other is coming up with a renewable form of energy. 

• Compost

You would not normally think that animal waste would be used in compost as in fact many sources would tell you not to use it. However, there are people that use their pet, mainly their dog’s poop in compost. Dog waste generally contains dangerous pathogens that do not belong anywhere near anybody’s food garden. Then how exactly are they used?

There are products like dog poop compost bins that can help you do just that. They keep your dog poop way from all other compost products and keep the stink away as well. This keeps the harmful pathogens of dog poop from going into the environment and polluting it. 

• Vermicompost

When earthworms eat organic matter, they excrete small pellets that are called vermicompost. This vermicompost contains all the required nutrients for plants to grow in a completely healthy and natural way without the need of any chemical-based fertilizers. 

There are many that are now integrating both the methods of composting and vermicomposting. The reason behind this was the long process time of composting. Integration with vermicomposting speeds up the process. 

• Bio-degradable Bags

This is an eco-friendly method of disposing of your pet’s waste. However, it is important that you choose poop bags from companies that have the documented backing to show that their bags are actually bio-degradable. Pet owners would have to be careful about this and do some research on their own in this matter. 

If you do indeed choose the right bag, it can go a long way in helping the environment and reducing the impact of plastic on our planet in the long run. It always advised never to handle dog waste with bare hands. Always use gloves and bags or call a  pet waste removal company to deal with it. 

• Burial

I know this one sounds too simple and rudimentary compared to the other methods on this post. When it comes to your cat or dog’s waste, it contains dangerous pathogens that should not come into contact with human beings as well as should stay away from the groundwater supply. 

Since dog poop is an organic substance, burying it underground is makes sense as you are returning those biological properties back to the ground. However, there are a few things that need to be considered while doing this. 

1. We must make sure the groundwater level is low enough so that the waste does not seep into the groundwater. 

2. Use a biodegradable bag to bury the poop in as non-biodegradable ones made of plastic do not decompose and remain in their place underground forever. This is bad for the soil. 

The above are just some of the ways animal waste can be utilized as well as disposed of so that it is not a burden upon the environment. As time goes on, we await the discovery or invention of new methods to reduce and reuse waste material whether organic or inorganic to help our planet sustain its entire population of living organisms.