Poop? Or no poop?
Let’s be honest. Composting can seem pretty gross to the uninitiated. Unless you regularly take out your kitchen scraps to your compost pile when you’ve got fresh rinds or peels, you’ve probably dealt with some brown, yucky materials. Of course, when it’s all finished, there are no traces of these materials, and what’s created is a wonderfully rich compost material that should smell like luscious earth.
And speaking of gross, there is the large question of whether or not you can use poop in your compost bin. The answer, of course, depends on what kind of poop you want to use.
POOP TO AVOID COMPOSTING:
Because domestic house pets (like dogs and cats) are carnivorous by nature, their poop should NOT be added to a compost pile. Human poop also (even if someone is a vegetarian!) should never be added to a compost bin or pile. Both dogs and cats have organisms in their stomachs and can also have diseases in their poop that are harmful to the composting process and plant life, and ultimately humans. These diseases can get into the plants you eat, and should not be digested. Human poop can carry pathogens, diseases and organisms that can be extremely harmful.
Now, there are certain worm composting bins that are ok for dog poop. Earth worms and red wrigglers love to feed off of dog droppings, and the worm poop created (called castings) is a very rich, usable compost that is safe to use in the garden.
If you are determined to use human poop for composting, there are composting toilets available. It might sound a little funny, but they do have many benefits to an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Basically, cat poop is never OK to use in composting, but dog poop is OK to use with a worm composting bin. Do note: If you want to put dog poop in a worm composting bin, you can only put in dog poop. Worms do not eat food scraps and poop. They will only eat one or the other so don’t mix.
POOP YOU CAN SAFELY ADD TO YOUR COMPOSTER:
Who’s poop is OK to use in a compost pile? Herbivores. Cows, horses, sheep, essentially all grass grazing animals produce great nitrogen-rich droppings that are safe to use in a compost bin. It may not be glamorous, but shoveling in a cow pie or two will give your compost pile a real boost.
Try using pies that are not the freshest in the field, but instead, use droppings that have started to dry out or decompose already. This way, they can be made into smaller pieces and not just one lump piece floating around. This will help make it more effective in your pile or bin.
Other animals with beneficial poop for your composter: bats, ducks, goats, pigs, pigeons and any other vegetarian animal! Be careful with bird droppings because it might contain weed seeds.
Still want to compost dog poop?
These Flush Puppy dog poop bags can be flushed in a regular toilet. It isn’t really composting, but it’s a relatively eco friendly way to get rid of the dog poop. Municipal sewer systems (and septic tanks) are designed to effectively deal with poop, and it won’t end up petrified in a plastic bag sitting in a landfill somewhere this way.
This Doggy Dooley dog poop composter is a small bin that you bury into the ground. You pop open the lid to put poop inside, which decomposes underground. There’s an enzyme product that you sprinkle into the bin to help with decomposition. It costs about $59.
What goes better with dog poop than worms? (Couldn’t resist that one.) Seriously though, you can use vermicomposting to break down dog poop into harmless worm castings. But here’s the deal. If you’re going to compost dog poop in your worm bin, you can ONLY use dog poop. You can’t try to mix it in with other stuff, because the worms revolt. $99.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
some questions:
1. Why is it ok to use compost from a composting toilet, but not ok to add humanure to a compost pile to use as fertilizer?
2. Native Americans buried fish scraps in their fields for hundreds of years. Were they doing the wrong thing?
3. What if a carnivorous bear poops in my garden? Am I in danger?
4. With bird dropping, shouldn’t we be equally worried about bird flu or encephalitis?
5. Where are your references?
1. Composting toilets are specially designed to break down human poop into a final product that isn’t dangerous. Doing it yourself by adding it to your compost pile is just asking for trouble. In theory, it might be potentially possible to do it safely yourself. In practice, it’s something that most people should avoid.
2. Burying meat and dairy and things like that is fine — such as with trench composting. You just don’t want to add it to your above-ground compost pile or bin, because it becomes putrid and/or attracts rodents and animals.
3. I’d be more worried about the bear itself than the poop!
4. In general, you can use bird droppings in your compost pile. They’ll heat up and break down during the composting process, and the aerobic bacteria that heat up during composting will destroy any pathogens. You’d never want to touch any kind of poop with your bare hands. And if you feel uncomfortable handling bird droppings, you should avoid it.
5. If you flip through a number of composting books in your local bookstore, you’ll find that they mostly agree with the approach listed on this page. Some of them have slightly varying advice, of course. The Humanure guy, for example, is big on how you can compost human poop safely if you do it right. http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html If you get any kind of poop hot enough when you compost it, it would theoretically be okay. But this guide is written for your average person who is going to compost at home. So the best rule of thumb is to avoid most carnivorous poop. Why risk making yourself sick? We aren’t presenting a peer reviewed research paper — it’s just a basic helpful guide.
can I put chicken droppings in the compost pile?
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Yes, you can use chicken droppings. Just don’t use dog or cat or any other carnivore!
If I don’t have access to fresh manure, can I just add bagged manure to my compost heap?
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Manure isn’t a necessary ingredient, so you don’t have to add it at all if you don’t have it handy.
I think it would be wasteful to buy bagged manure, just to compost it. Instead, try adding other nitrogen rich materials like coffee grounds (which you can get free from Starbucks if you ask!) or vegetable scraps.
If my dogs are vegetarians, can I compost their poop? Or, should I have a separate worm compost area for that still?
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No, you still want to avoid it, because dogs are omnivores. Same goes with people, even if they eat vegetarian.
The safest thing is to only compost poop of herbivores — not omnivores or carnivores.
What about using dog/cat poop in compost that you are only using for flower beds and not in a vegetable garden.
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Cat poop is dangerous, period, in my opinion. Pregnant women should not go anywhere near it. Dog poop, maybe.
One of the instructors in my master composting classes did indeed compost pet poop that he only used in flower beds.
Personally, I would only bury or throw away any kind of poop and would not try to compost it. There are so many other things that you can compost that aren’t potentially dangerous, so it’s better to stick with those.
Do you have any references for studies concerning dog poop compost, when processed by vermicomposting being pathogen free? I have been searching but cannot find. I am working on a project to show that this is the case and would greatly appreciate your imput. Thanks
I am not aware of such a study, unfortunately.
But if you find one, would you please come back and let me know about it so that I can write a blog post about it and/or update the site?
Hi All,
I am getting that composting poop is tricky business. Since I am just starting out with composting on my 1/4 acre within city limits; I will do everybody a favor and not. With that said, it kills me to scoop cat litter and then put in plastic bags in the garbage for the city to take to a landfill.
I have five cats and I use “Worlds Best Cat litter”. It is made from corn and the company says it is “safe” to flush down your city toilet. Being as I have so many cats to be flushing the cat pee clumps; (almost clogged the toilet…bad idea), I just flush the poop. I use biodegradable plastic bags for the clumped cat urine and put in the in the city trash bin.
Is there another way? Should I be looking into trench composting? or burying the waste? Being so close to neighbors I really need to think of them too. I am thinking there is not much more I can do unless I move to a rural setting with a lot of property. Thanks in advance!
Cat poop can have toxins in it that are dangerous to pregnant women and can make other people very sick, so that’s the main reason to be careful around it not compost it.
I would think that burying the biodegradable cat urine clumps is probably not a big deal, as long as it doesn’t end up making some incredibly stinky area of your yard. If I were going to attempt it, I would probably bury it or trench compost it, and would not add it to my regular compost pile for fear of smells.
I am planning on building a dog waste composter, following the basic idea of burying a garbage bin with the bottom cut out and the lid at grass level. The waste would just degrade with the help of a septic starter and leach into the soil, I would NOT be using this in any garden, just trying to get rid of the waste with out putting it in a landfill.
Could I also put our indoor cat’s litter into this type of composter? I have read that exclusivly indoor cats possible do not have the bacteria (name escapes me) that is so dangerous to pregnant women.
@Rachel,
I guess if you were just going to leave it buried at the end anyway and not grow any food in that spot, it would probably be okay. After all, outdoor cats poop outside everywhere, and we somehow manage to deal with that.
Hello, my neighbor has two cats that are constantly using my vegetable garden as a kitty litter box (pee and poop)
I am arguing with him that this is sick and dangerous for anyone eating these vegetables. His argument is that I use horse manure for fertilization purposes – what’s the difference? Does anyone have any answers / advice?
@Rolo
Horses are herbivores. Cat poop is toxic.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2637/if-cat-poop-is-so-toxic-to-pregnant-women-why-arent-there-more-birth-defects
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/zoonotics/cats.aspx
You should use this product in your garden. I have used it, and it works.
http://www.gardeners.com/Safe-Cat-Deterrent/YardPests_DogsCats,31-954,default,cp.html
You might also consider these:
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/shake-away-cat.html
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/catsaway.html
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/animalrepeller.html
What if my chickens eat kitchen scraps that include, meat, dairy, eggs, etc? It’s obviously a small portion of their diet (mostly grain and free ranging) but I don’t want to waste their droppings if they’re OK.
Thanks! Just got my composter at a yard sale today
@sharon
Chicken poop is okay, even if you feed them some kitchen scraps. It’s dog and cat poop that you have to worry about with composting, for the most part.
Is it OK to compost meat scraps and dairy in a dog waste composter?
@Jill
If it’s one of those underground composters, I suppose it would be okay. It might cause a big stinky mess, but it would be a stinky underground mess, and it would all break down eventually.
People say the same things over and over for safeties sake. These are the rules. Everyone knows it. These things can’t be composted. These things can.
But all organic matter composts in nature without our applications of science that allow for the natural processes to work faster.
I’d love to see where people say things like, “One is advised against composting meat and human waste without researching the processes completely,” instead of setting up these false rules.
Humanure can be composted safely and effectively and not just in expensive toilets.
Check the Humanure handbook for the specifics. It is available free online.
Many cats have a microscopic parasitic protozoa in their feces called toxoplasma which is what is dangerous for pregnant women and immune compromised people. In order to become infectious, it must remain outside of the body for 24-48hrs, so if litter is cleaned daily it does not have time to become infectious, thus minimizing the risk. That being said, if it was placed in your composter, it would make a perfect environment for the organism to sporulate (become infectious) and if ingested can cause serious disease of your brain and eyes (and miscarriages and stillbirths). It is probably best to not use feline feces as compost for any plants because the microscopic organism would still be in your dirt which would get on your hands and in your nails and eventually, you would eat with those hands.
Ok, I get cat poop = not a good idea, pathogens etc. What I would really like to know is about cat litter besides the poop. I use the feline pine litter; as my cats use the litter box, the sawdust pellets break down into sawdust. If I scooped out the poop, could I compost the used sawdust litter?
I have a guinea pig and wanted to know if, aside from the poop, could I put the entire cage cleanup in the composter? It obviously has poop and pine/aspen/paper shavings but, is the urine ok too? It would be great if I could just empty the whole cage into the composter when it’s time for cleaning day! Thanks…