Can't dog poop be left in the flowerbed to be used as fertilizer? Why do we have to pick up dog poop?

"You don't have to pick up the poop when your dog poops in the flower bed. It's natural fertilizer and can be used to fertilize the flowers and plants." Some people believe that dog poop is naturally biodegradable, so there's no need to pinch your nose to pick up poop.

That's not the case!

Dog poop that is not picked up does more than just irritate passersby and occasionally bring good luck to people. The burden that tens of thousands of tons of dog feces that are not properly handled put on the natural environment and public health is far beyond your imagination.

When a dog poops, the owner is responsible for picking up the poop! | Small towel

If you don't pick up poop, there will be bacteria floating in the air

If you leave dog poop outdoors, the bacteria in it will spread into the air .

This is not sensational. A study from the University of Colorado Boulder showed that dog poop may be the main source of bacteria in the winter air in Cleveland and Detroit, USA[1].

Generally speaking, bacteria in the air may come from plants, soil and water, but in winter, when plants lose their leaves, lakes freeze and the soil is covered with snow, the large amount of dog poop that is not picked up contributes to most of the bacteria in the air.

Dog feces contain extremely high levels of bacteria, many of which are harmful to humans . In just one gram of dog feces, there are 23 million E. coli[4]. Salmonella and Giardia, which cause intestinal infections in humans, are also commonly found in dog feces.

Take a deep breath, hmm, it tastes like poop | Durian

Moreover, many of these bacteria are resistant to antibiotics . Once people are infected with these bacteria, it will be difficult to treat them. In dog feces samples from the southern Italian city of Bari, nearly 40% of Enterococcus were resistant to more than six antibiotics [2].

What’s even more frightening is that the microorganisms in dog feces can also affect the entire ecological environment through water circulation. Therefore, in addition to humans, other animals and plants may also be affected by dog ​​feces. For example, a parasite called Neospora that uses domestic dogs as its host can cause miscarriages in deer, sheep, and cows[3].

In addition, the composition of pet dog excrement is different from that of wild animals. Their diet contains more protein, so there will be more nitrogen and phosphorus in their excrement . Normally, these elements are not very harmful, but when there is too much dog poop, it will change the nutrients in the soil and break the ecological balance. Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus will also make nearby freshwater eutrophic, aquatic organisms over-reproduce, consume oxygen in freshwater, and cause fish deaths.

A Belgian study shows that dog poop adds 11 kilograms of nitrogen and 5 kilograms of phosphorus to every hectare of land each year [5] | Small Towel

Dog, you have too many friends.

Is dog poop more dangerous than other pets' poop? No! It's not targeted at dogs!

Cat feces also carry a lot of bacteria and can transmit many diseases, such as toxoplasmosis. If a pregnant woman is infected with toxoplasmosis (but it does not mean that the cat should be sent away if pregnant), the baby may be born deaf, have damaged corneas, and have intellectual disabilities [6]. Toxoplasma can also spread to the ecosystem. Previous studies have found that some sea otters in California may have died from toxoplasmosis.

However, pet cats can use litter boxes at home, so the possibility of cat feces spreading to the wild is relatively small . But most dogs have to go out to poop, and with so many dogs , there is too much dog feces that are not properly handled!

It's cute, so let the owner pick up the poop! | Small towel

In the United States, 90 million pet dogs produce 11 million tons of excrement each year, but only 60% of these dog owners pick up their dogs’ feces when they walk them [7].

There are approximately 54 million pet dogs in my country, and the excrement they produce should not be underestimated[8].

Pick up shit and throw it in the toilet

There is so much dog poop, what can we do? The first step is to pick up our own dog poop .

As long as pet owners are willing to pick up their dog’s poop, they can greatly reduce the risk of infectious diseases, while also reducing phosphorus emissions by 97% and nitrogen emissions by 56%[4].

In order to make it easier for dog owners to pick up poop, many cities have set up easily accessible plastic bags, poop baskets, and "pet toilets", so that owners who don't bring garbage bags with them can pick up poop at any time.

There are garbage bags for picking up poop in the community | Small towel

Dog poop does not actually belong to everyday household waste. Strictly speaking, the correct way to do it is to take the poop home and flush it down the toilet .

Flushing dog poop down the toilet is the best destination | Wenhui.com

Human feces also contain many pathogenic microorganisms, nitrogen, and phosphorus, but because we have a more mature sewage treatment system, these excrement will not cause uncontrollable harm.

Inevitably, using plastic bags to pick up poop also creates more waste pollution. It is estimated that a dog will need 10,000 plastic bags to pick up poop in its lifetime [9].

A more environmentally friendly approach might be to let your dog learn to poop in the toilet. This is naturally the most convenient for the poop scooper, but it is too demanding for the dog.

Awarding this dog a doctorate in toilet training｜Giphy

Dog shit generates electricity to light up street lamps

Since dogs have to poop eventually, some researchers have come up with new ideas to try to turn dog poop into something useful - for example, using dog poop to light lamps .

On the ridge of the Melvern Hills in England, there is a row of street lamps illuminated by dog ​​poop.

The UK's first street light powered by dog ​​poop | Nic Fleming

Dog owners only need to throw dog poop into the incubation pool and turn the handle. The poop will be decomposed by microorganisms in the oxygen-free digester and turned into methane.

At night, the methane is used to generate electricity and light street lamps, while the decomposition byproducts can be used as fertilizer in agriculture[11].

10 bags of dog poop can keep street lights on for two hours | Guardian graphic

There are similar attempts in Ottawa, Canada. Three parks in Ottawa collect dog poop and regularly transport it to a power plant. In this power plant, the dog poop and other organic fertilizers are decomposed together, the methane produced is used to generate electricity, and the by-product is sold to farmers as fertilizer.

According to power generation efficiency calculations, the electricity generated by this dog shit power generation project is enough to supply 13 households and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 630 kilograms[9].

However, it is difficult to promote the use of dog poop to generate electricity . On the one hand, the cost of generating electricity from dog poop is much higher than burning fossil fuels. On the other hand, the energy loss and air pollution caused by transporting dog poop also make this project less environmentally friendly.

Until more environmentally friendly measures are in place, the best way is to pick up the poop! After all, if you don't pick it up, the next time it rains, the dog poop will float everywhere...

I have already told my dog ​​that it is time to learn to pick up its own poop when it grows up.

References

[1]. Bowers RM, Sullivan AP, Costello EK, Collett JL Jr, Knight R, Fierer N. Sources of bacteria in outdoor air across cities in the midwestern United States. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Sep;77(18):6350-6. doi: 10.1128/AEM.05498-11. Epub 2011 Jul 29. PMID: 21803902; PMCID: PMC3187178.

[2]. Cinquepalmi V, Monno R, Fumarola L, Ventrella G, Calia C, Greco MF, Vito Dd, Soleo L. Environmental contamination by dog's faeces: a public health problem? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2012 Dec 24;10(1):72-84. doi: 10.3390/ijerph10010072. PMID: 23263659; PMCID: PMC3564131.

Dubey, John P [corrected to Dubey, JP]. PMID: 12666725; PMCID: PMC2717477.

[4]. The planet needs you to pick up your dog's poop. https://www.popsci.com/environment/dog-poop-pollution/?taid=6355d79d7a99c20001831ef5&utm_campaign=trueanthem_AI&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_term=popularscience

[5].De Frenne, P., Cougnon, M., Janssens, GPJ, & Vangansbeke, P. (2022). Nutrient fertilization by dogs in peri-urban ecosystems. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 3, e12128. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12128

[6]. Your cat's poop is even more dangerous than you thought. https://theweek.com/articles/462366/cats-poop-even-more-dangerous-than-thought

[7].Dogs in Parks: Managing the Waste https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2018/november/dogs-in-parks-managing-the-waste/

[8]. Analysis of the number of pets, pet consumption and pet feed in China in 2021 [Figure] https://www.chyxx.com/industry/1101632.html

[9].Yavor, KM; Lehmann, A.; Finkbeiner, M. Environmental Impacts of a Pet Dog: An LCA Case Study. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3394. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083394

[10]. Is Dog Poop Compostable? https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/is-dog-poop-compostable/

[11]. From stools to fuels: the street lamp that runs on dog do https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/01/stools-to-fuels-street-lamp-runs-on-dog-poo-bio-energy-waste-

Author:Hazel

Edit: Small towel

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