An honest look at each dog waste disposal option for a Chattanooga yard, and what Scoopy Doo does with the waste it collects.
Waste left on a lawn washes into untreated storm drains with every heavy rain, and from there into local creeks and the Tennessee River. Chattanooga rain and clay-heavy soil increase runoff, so how often waste gets picked up matters more than any disposal method.
Dog waste is not fertilizer. It is high in nitrogen and salts that burn grass, can carry roundworm, hookworm, giardia, and E. coli, and breaks down slowly in humid weather.
For most households, bagging waste for the trash is the practical, responsible default. Compostable bags only help if they reach a facility where they can break down; in a landfill they do little better than regular bags.
Flushing sends waste to a treatment plant, but flush the waste only, never a bag, check suitability first if you are on septic, and it is only practical for occasional pickups.
Home piles rarely stay hot enough to reliably kill pathogens. Use a separate bin and use the finished compost only on ornamental beds and landscaping, never on food gardens.
Digesters need well-drained soil. In the heavy clay common around Chattanooga they tend to back up and work slowly, especially in cold weather.
A commercial high-temperature composting facility that accepts pet waste is the best destination where one exists. Waste must be collected separately, kept free of plastic, and delivered in bulk, and the finished compost is generally used for landscaping rather than food crops.
Every pickup is double-bagged. As standard, bags go in the customer's outdoor trash bin, never left at the gate. Waste takeaway, where Scoopy Doo hauls the bags away, is $5 per visit and is included on one-time cleanups. Hauled-away waste is disposed of at a municipal landfill. Scoopy Doo does not compost collected waste today. Tools and footwear are sanitized between every yard. Weekly service is $20 per visit for the first dog and every-other-week is $33 per visit, with no contracts.
Picking it up promptly matters more than where it goes. Waste left in a yard washes into storm drains and creeks with every heavy rain. After that, a commercial high-temperature composting facility that accepts pet waste is the best destination, where one is available. For most Chattanooga households, bagging it and putting it in the trash is the practical and responsible choice.
You can, but a home pile rarely stays hot enough for long enough to reliably kill the parasites and bacteria in dog waste. Keep it in a separate bin away from your regular compost, and never use the result on vegetable gardens or anything you eat. Use it only on ornamental beds and landscaping.
No. Dog waste is not fertilizer. It is high in nitrogen and salts that burn grass, it can carry roundworm, hookworm, giardia, and E. coli, and rain carries it off the yard into storm drains that empty into local creeks and the Tennessee River.
Only if the bag ends up somewhere it can actually break down, such as a composting facility that accepts it. In a landfill, a compostable bag does little better than a regular one. If your waste goes in the trash, the bag type matters much less than picking the waste up in the first place.
Every pickup is double-bagged. As standard, the bags go in your outdoor trash bin, never left at the gate. For $5 per visit, Scoopy Doo takes the bags away with us instead, and haul-away is included on one-time cleanups. Hauled-away waste goes to a municipal landfill. Scoopy Doo does not compost collected waste today.