Based on my research, the best way to handle dog poop is to use a reusable pooper scooper and flush the poop down a toilet.
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop (yours and your pet's) safely and effectively (this was verified by calling the local sewage treatment plant in Sunnyvale, California)
- The poop is treated and recycled fairly quickly and safely back into the environment
Cons:
- Need to carry the poop to a toilet
- Need to purchase or make a reusable pooper scooper
Here are other alternatives generally listed from healthiest for environment to least healthy.
Use a flushable poop bag and flush down a toilet.
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop
- The poop is treated and recycled
- Easy to carry bag around to pick up poop
Cons:
- Flushable bags can "melt" in rain or other very wet conditions
- Flushable bags should be kept sealed in another plastic bag before use
- Flushable bags are a bit expensive and hard to find
- Flushable bags smell a bit
Put the poop in the trash.
Pros:
- Sometimes easier than flushing down a toilet
- Easy for poop picked up in a plastic doogie doo bag
Cons:
- Dangerous to sanitation workers
- Poop is not recycled easily back into our environment in a landfill
- Takes up landfill space
- Uses up plastic bags (which do not decompose very quickly)
Hire a pet waste pickup service.
Pros:
- Someone else does the dirty work
Cons:
- Expensive
- Poop probably just ends up in the trash in which case those cons also apply
- It takes extra energy and causes extra pollution for a service to drive to and from your house
Put it in a "doogie doolie" septic system.
Pros:
- Does attempt to recycle poop and get it safely back into environment
Cons:
- Expensive
- Takes work to set up and maintain
- Have to purchase system
- Can smell
- Can spread disease
- A real septic tank system is much more effective, these smaller septic-like systems are usually too small to work safely and effectively
Bury it.
Pros:
- Cheap
Cons:
- Takes a bit of effort to dig hole
- Can still spread disease and smell
Comments:
- May be the best option when you are very far from civilization
Leave it were it is.
Pros:
- Cheap & easy
Cons:
- Spreads disease to you and your pets
- Greatly increases the local fly population
- Messy to step in
- Smells and is unsightly
- Illegal in many public areas
Comments:
- This is generally the worst option.
---------- October 15, 2008 addition ----------
Additional supporting references can be found at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200638/
http://www.tappwater.org/what-pet.aspx?a=viewPost&PostID=2242
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sourcewater/pubs/fs_swpp_petwaste.pdf
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop (yours and your pet's) safely and effectively (this was verified by calling the local sewage treatment plant in Sunnyvale, California)
- The poop is treated and recycled fairly quickly and safely back into the environment
Cons:
- Need to carry the poop to a toilet
- Need to purchase or make a reusable pooper scooper
Here are other alternatives generally listed from healthiest for environment to least healthy.
Use a flushable poop bag and flush down a toilet.
Pros:
- Sewer systems are designed to handle poop
- The poop is treated and recycled
- Easy to carry bag around to pick up poop
Cons:
- Flushable bags can "melt" in rain or other very wet conditions
- Flushable bags should be kept sealed in another plastic bag before use
- Flushable bags are a bit expensive and hard to find
- Flushable bags smell a bit
Put the poop in the trash.
Pros:
- Sometimes easier than flushing down a toilet
- Easy for poop picked up in a plastic doogie doo bag
Cons:
- Dangerous to sanitation workers
- Poop is not recycled easily back into our environment in a landfill
- Takes up landfill space
- Uses up plastic bags (which do not decompose very quickly)
Hire a pet waste pickup service.
Pros:
- Someone else does the dirty work
Cons:
- Expensive
- Poop probably just ends up in the trash in which case those cons also apply
- It takes extra energy and causes extra pollution for a service to drive to and from your house
Put it in a "doogie doolie" septic system.
Pros:
- Does attempt to recycle poop and get it safely back into environment
Cons:
- Expensive
- Takes work to set up and maintain
- Have to purchase system
- Can smell
- Can spread disease
- A real septic tank system is much more effective, these smaller septic-like systems are usually too small to work safely and effectively
Bury it.
Pros:
- Cheap
Cons:
- Takes a bit of effort to dig hole
- Can still spread disease and smell
Comments:
- May be the best option when you are very far from civilization
Leave it were it is.
Pros:
- Cheap & easy
Cons:
- Spreads disease to you and your pets
- Greatly increases the local fly population
- Messy to step in
- Smells and is unsightly
- Illegal in many public areas
Comments:
- This is generally the worst option.
---------- October 15, 2008 addition ----------
Additional supporting references can be found at:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200638/
http://www.tappwater.org/what-pet.aspx?a=viewPost&PostID=2242
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/sourcewater/pubs/fs_swpp_petwaste.pdf
Comments
The article they reference at tappwatter.org is an excellent one that I had not seen before.
I've been using compostable biobag dog poop bags and then just throwing them in the compost bin. Personally I wouldn't want to have to carry a bag of poop through my house
Regarding "that much poop", do you have lots of dogs? More than humans? Humans generate quite a bit of poop, generally more than most dogs except the largest ones.
Note that herbivore poop (rabbits, chickens, cows, goats, etc) are definitely best used directly as fertilizer but not so for human and meat eating pet poop.
One other thought. If you have a septic system, then you are probably in a rural area. If you are in a rural area, it is ok to leave pet poop lie where it is in fields and woods if it is spread far and few between. That's how wild carnivores handle it too. But if you have lots of dogs or the poop ends up being to close together, it becomes a biological safety hazard.
Hope that helps.