Oh, especially on a day like today
it's so nice out you gotta take the dog
out for a walk and part of the job.
Of course I don't like that up after
your dogs. No, I don't either.
But I wanna thank all of you
who actually do that.
And then you take it and you
throw it away in your own trash.
Minutes to society.
Yeah, but some of you actually take
it even further for the environment.
Investing in those eco friendly bags.
However, in this week's installment
of our changing Climate,
our Natalie Ferrari has some news
to share that might surprise you.
Surprise me now.
Yeah, you mentioned the trash cans there.
Well, here's the deal.
A lot of those doggie bags that
are being marketed as eco friendly
or biodegradable.
It turns out your purchase may
actually not be helping out the
environment as much as you think.
That's a lot of plastic you're throwing away
when it comes to using plastic.
the US takes the lead in generating
the most plastic trash out of
any other country on the planet.
And while a small change in our
everyday lives can make a difference,
some companies are banking
on your good intentions.
One example of that is with
those little dog waste bags.
According to the Federal Trade Commission,
over a dozen creators and marketers
of dog waste bags were notified that
their so-called biodegradable products
may have been misleading to consumers.
Some dog bags like that
are labeled biodegradable,
actually are not biodegradable.
They can be falsely labeled,
so unfortunately it does kind of get
the consumer that wants to do something
good and tries to unfortunately
be kind of duped into buying a
bag that isn't biodegradable. When
a product claims it's biodegradable,
it's telling the consumer it will
completely break down into its natural
components within one year after disposal.
However, most bags take
significantly longer to breakdown,
while some may not even breakdown at all,
and the problem only gets worse when
these waste bags end up in our landfills.
A lot of the plastics in the
landfills take anywhere from
10 to 1000 years to decompose,
and so obviously that's taking
a lot of our landfill space.
Some biodegradable plastics need oxygen.
Breakdown, but if they end up in
our landfills, it can get mixed in
and compressed with other trash,
never allowing it to completely deteriorate.
Lay a STM label on the actual.
The box will help consumers
actually make sure they're buying
a biodegradable bag instead of
a falsely advertised bag. So
why is this a problem?
Well, both creating and disposing of
plastics generate greenhouse gases,
which are heat trapping gases
that warm up our atmosphere.
So if these biodegradable materials
arm breaking down or do so at
a significantly slower rate,
this further contributes
to the impact on our food,
our water and our atmosphere.
So if you're a dog parent like me,
you're probably asking yourself, well,
what can I do to pick up after my best
friend while staying eco friendly?
One option,
use a dog waste only composting bin.
While this should never be used
for growing food or edible plants,
it can be great for a decorative garden.
It's not like cow fertilizer.
Dogs eat, you know, are.
Man-made food, which is going to
have a different nutrient makeup,
so we want to make sure we're
composting it correctly.
You could also transport the ways to
an industrial composting facility
that accepts pet waste if the
option is available in your area,
or simply you can just flush it.
In fact, the Environmental
Protection Agency recommends it.
You'll just want to check with your
city sewage guidelines and never
flush pet waste into a septic tank.
But if you want to completely
cut out plastic bags.
Using a handheld scoop or shovel to
transfer the dog waste from the ground
to a composting bin or toilet would
be the most earth friendly option.
Just
making sure to pick up after your pet.
I mean, it's going to do a lot more
damage sitting there as pet waste.
Not only does it smell bad and
your neighbors probably gonna
give you a really mean dirty look,
but it's also not good for us,
and it's not good for our waterways either.
Like crap, yeah, you know it's just one.
Oh man. OK, well I'm glad to know that
there are options also not to spend
all that money on those things carry,
but the reality is toilet, you know it.
Look there are a lot of people in little
pooper scoopers stop it. No, I'm not.
I'm not bringing that in my house.
I'm not gonna lie.
I have rethought about everything I've do
at home normally because of the story.
Well and I put it together.
I think that a lot of people.
And maybe I'm I'm wrong.
But what I do I use though the you know
we have the plastic bags from Publix
and that's what I use and I feel like.
Well, I'm recycling it.
There was the plastic that's
already been used.
Yeah, I, I mean I get the putting it
in the landfills is so misleading.
It actually should not be going
there in those just Willy nilly.
Trash cans.