The Red, White, and Green

I was checking out at my local Trader Joe’s yesterday when the cashier began to place my package of chicken in a plastic bag. “No, that’s OK — I’ve got my own bags,” I offered, pointing to my canvas totes.

“Aw, man, that’s nasty,” he said. “You gotta have the plastic bag. What about E. coli and shit?”

After assuring him that I wash all my items thoroughly, including my canvas totes, I was ready to leave the conversation at that; I think the best way to attract other people to a green lifestyle is by example, not by lecturing. But when he offered up another “Aw, that’s nasty,” I was ready with my counter: Plastic bags can take 500 to 1,000 years to break down and actually only photodegrade, not biodegrade, turning into miniscule plastic bits that animals and we in turn ingest; the ever-expanding Great Pacific Garbage Patch; how San Francisco has outlawed plastic bags and Los Angeles would soon follow suit…

“No plastic bags?” he yelped, dumbfounded. “How am I supposed to pick up after my dog?”

“Good question,” I said. “I don’t know.”

Well, sir, I’ve got the answer for you now: Poop Bags!

Made from a combination of corn and other renewable products, the oh-so-delicately named Poop Bag is truly biodegradable — meeting the ASTM D6400 specification for biodegradability — and takes a mere 60 to 90 days to decompose in a commercial composting environment (if placed in an open-air landfill, it will break down at the same rate as other biodegradable materials). 

I called the Los Angeles Department of Public Works to find out if dog waste in biodegradable bags can be disposed of in the city’s green (composting) curbside bins. While it cannot at present, there are many cities and communities across the country in which you can — though I’m sure you’ll need to call your local sanitation department to confirm. One other option: The company’s flushable Poop Bags made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which dissolves in water.

At around $5 a month for a year’s supply, you’ll be shoveling the savings, too!

–Jennifer Grayson

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