An alternative to the common doggy dirt bags

Introduction

A plastic bag is used on an average of just 25 minutes. Its production consumes petroleum and requires a lot of energy, dioxin is released during its combustion. The sacks, which land in the green or in a lake, decompose only after centuries.

In many countries, the plastic bags would often land in the wild, but in Switzerland the waste disposal of the bags would work flawlessly. The proportion of sacks in total plastic consumption is too low for a ban to actually contribute to environmental protection.

lifecycle of a robidog bag

Environment

ROBI AG places great emphasis on responsible and economical use of natural resources. Due to the technical development of the materials, the foliage thickness [1] of the dog droppings could be reduced by over 25% to 14μm [2] in the last few years – without any loss of quality and therefore without any disadvantage for our customers.

Dog dung and waste bags are made of polyethylene (PE). Polyethylene is the world’s most widely used plastic, accounting for around 30% of the world’s plastics, and is used especially in the packaging industry. All our consumables are guaranteed free of heavy metals and plasticizers. Used dog dung bags and waste bags are fed by the municipalities of the refuse incineration [3]. There, polyethylene can be incinerated [4] without pollutants and reused as an energy carrier.

[1] foliage thickness: Foliendicke
[2] μm: Mikrometer
[3] municipalities of the refuse incineration: Kommunen der Kehrichtverbrennung
[4] incinerated: verbrannt

BioBag: compostable dog pouches

During our research we have found a company which produces doggy dirt bags from 100% compostable materials. The materials together are called Mater-Bi ®. So what exactly is this Mater-Bi ®?

A biodegradable and compostable bioplastics from nature.

Mater-Bi ® is a bioplastics made from renewable raw materials, which is derived from plant components such as corn starch, a biodegradable polymer and renewable raw materials of fossil origin.

Mater-Bi ® is sold in the form of granules and can be processed on conventional plastic machines. Its properties are equal or better to conventional plastics. It is completely biodegradable and compostable. For more information click the following link: www.materbi.com

Bio bags are not always better (Report Migros)

Alternatives such as biodegradable materials are not necessarily better than synthetic ones in life cycle assessments – contrary to popular opinion, although the former can usually be produced and composted from renewable raw materials. In an LCA study, a knot bag made from the conventional HDPE [5] plastic was compared with one of the bioplastics PLA [6]. The conventional plastic bag made of HDPE has a half the environmental impact compared to the biodegradable bag made of PLA. The reasons for the poor performance of the biodegradable pouch are due to the cultivation of the renewable raw materials, e.g. Intensive agriculture, monocultures and use of GMOs [7] plants (e.g., gene maize), but also with greater thickness and thus higher material consumption. It is also problematic for biodegradable materials to compete for food production. Thus, bioplastics are e.g. From maize, potato or soya starch, which are an important foodstuff for many people.

[5] HDPE also means high density polyethylene (Polyethylen hoher Dichte)
[6] PLA: Polylactic acid (Polymilchsäure)
[7] GMOs: Genetically modified organisms (Gentechnisch veränderte Organismen)

If you are interested in finding out more click the link below:
www.daslamm.ch

Survey: Plastic-consumption

In the subject technology & environment we are working on a project and because of that we did a survey and evaluated the answers of 81/82 persons (see picture gallery below, enlarge image on click)

 

Interview with a dog owner, C.V.

Welche Art von Entsorgungsmethode verwenden Sie?

C.V.: Ich nutze Plastiksäcke, welche ich entweder in einem Petshop kaufe (in einer Rolle) oder ich beziehe diese an verschiedenen gratis Halterungen aus der Öffentlichkeit (ROBIDOG/Belloo).

Wissen Sie wie umweltschädlich die Produktion von Plastikbeutel ist?

C.V.: Nein, ich habe mir nie Gedanken darüber gemacht, dass dies eine hohe Belastung sein könnte, insbesondere im Bezug auf Hundekotbeutel.

Könnten Sie sich vorstellen eine andere Methode zu verwenden, z.B. eine ohne Plastik?

C.V.: Wenn sich diese preislich nicht allzu sehr von den normalen unterscheiden, könnte ich mir vorstellen, Hundekotbeutel zu verwenden, welche kompostierbar sind.

Wie sieht Ihr Plastikkonsum allgemein aus? Glauben Sie viel Plastik zu verwenden?

C.V.: Ich denke ich verwende schon ziemlich viel Plastik. Wenn ich überlege, wo überall Plastik vorkommt, dann ist das bestimmt eine ganze Menge. Ich achte auch nicht darauf, irgendwie auf Plastik zu verzichten oder meinen Konsum zu minderen.

Wissen Sie wie lange es dauert, bis eine Plastiktüte in der Natur zerfällt?

C.V.: Nein, dass weiss ich nicht. Ich schätze circa 20 Jahre.

Wenn ich Ihnen jetzt sage, dass es zwischen 100 und 150 Jahre dauert, überlegen Sie sich es ein zweites Mal, ob sie wirklich eine Plastiktüte bei jedem kleinen Einkauf brauchen?

C.V.: Wow, damit hätte ich jetzt nicht gerechnet. Das ist extrem lange. Ich denke ich werde mir auf jeden Fall in Zukunft überlege ob ich wirklich eine Tüte brauche oder nicht.

Noch eine abschliessende Frage: Werden Sie ihr Verhalten nach diesem Gespräch überdenken oder sogar ändern?

C.V.: Überdenken werde ich es auf jeden Fall. Ich möchte mich auch nach anderen Möglichkeiten zur Hundekotentsorgung umsehen, da dies doch etwas für die nächsten 10 bis 15 Jahren ein Thema sein wird.

Summary

In our interview with a (female) dog owner we got to know that she is not caring a lot about plastic. She did not know how long it takes for a plastic bag to decay in nature and never thought of any other method to dispose of the dirt her dog makes. But we got her to a point where she is starting to think about the plastic she uses everyday and maybe she will even try to reduce her plastic-consumption.

Melina & Amina

 

☷ See the project teams here »
☵ Some words about the contributions »

4 thoughts on “An alternative to the common doggy dirt bags

  1. Dear Amina and Melina
    I didn\’t know about the alternatives of the dog bags and that even BIO dog bags exist. I like the comparison between the different bags. The survey is also very interesting, because it shows how little people know about daily products.
    It would be interesting to know what would be worse for the environment; to leave the dirt on the floor or using the plastic bags all the time and and what are the consequences.
    Thanks for your interesting contribution
    Michelle

  2. Dear Amina and Melin

    I like your contribution to this website. I have also seen the other posts but yours appeals the most to me because I\’m a dog owner. After I have check the website for those bio bags I\’m thinking about ordering some of them. Just to give them a try. I\’m constantly trying to improve my way of living for our environment. Thank you for your help!

    Kind regards
    Iwen Spehar

  3. Hallo Melina und Amina

    Ich hatte auch lange Zeit einen Hund, wusste jedoch nicht dass es neben den gewöhnlichen Hundekotbeutel noch ein alternative gibt. Leider ist mir die Gelegenheit, diese zu testen nun entgangen und trotzdem möchte ich meine Familie und Freunde, welche noch Hunde haben, darauf aufmerksam machen. Vielen Dank für euren Beitrag!

    Freundliche Grüsse
    Magdalena Nevistic

  4. I like this detailed viewing of an everyday item very much! I wonder about what a simple bag is or could be, I never thought about that and I love dogs too! Thanks. Helene

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