Coastal Bin Busters specialises in getting your bins nice and fresh smelling, so dog poo is our nemisis.

The simple answer to the question “Can I put dog poo in my wheelie bin?” is yes you can.

We are based in Ballina, Australia so you need to check your revelant council rules but here in Ballina all excrement must be put in the LANDFILL (Red) wheelie bin.

At some stage during your life, you’ve been told what you can and can’t do with your dogs’ faeces, but unfortunately, you (and many others) have possibly been doing the wrong thing for years. This has prompted me to write a post further explaining the need to dispose of your Dog (or animal ) poo properly.

We Love Our Pets

Here at Coastal Bin Busters, we love pets! They fill our lives with joy, but they also fill our waste bins with something far less pleasant. Pet waste is an unavoidable aspect of pet ownership, and while we can’t prevent it, we can properly dispose of it.

Proper pet waste disposal is crucial to the health of pets, people, and the environment. You may be surprised to find that there is more to dealing with pet poo than just shoveling it into your wheelie bins.

Don’t worry, pet waste doesn’t have to be a problem. When you clean up after your pet correctly you can avoid the harmful impacts of untreated pet waste. That means more time spent playing with your furry friend and fewer people wondering about the pungent odor coming from your waste bins.

Problems With Pet Waste

Some may say that you can teach your pet to use the toilet, at which point your problem with pet waste would be solved. However, that is not practical for all pets and I can’t imagine it is a simple training process either.
Unless you have a pet potty connected to your sewer system, chances are your dog goes to the bathroom outdoors and your cat uses a litterbox. You may not see it, but you sure can smell it and the impacts of neglected pet waste can have some invisible impacts.

 Transmission Of Disease

• Would you drink the same water that is used to flush your toilet? Of course not, that water could be contaminated with diseases transmitted through waste. Your pet’s waste can carry the same health risks, even when it is left outdoors.
• Our pets can carry diseases and parasites in their feces that are transmissible to humans. These zoonotic diseases include giardia, toxoplasma, and roundworm to name a few. They are also invisible to the human eye and have evolved to persist in the environment.
• If you dont pick up your pet’s waste outdoors, you run the risk of tracking it into the house on shoes or paws, along with any diseases it may be carrying. Abandoned pet waste could also lead to the infection of other pets, as animals tend to investigate waste a little too closely.
• Pet waste that is tossed into a bin without any casing can stick to the inside of the bin, slowly building up and even splashing or leaking out of the bin. This gives those microscopic diseases the chance to infect a new host.

Contamination Of Water Ways

• The waterways surrounding Ballina Shire are a major part of the area’s charm. While your pet may not be going to the bathroom directly in these waterways, that doesn’t prevent their waste from ending up there.
• When pet waste is left outdoors, it can slowly be eroded by the elements and travel with stormwater into waterways. When you consider that each pet goes to the bathroom at least once daily and that 3 in 5 Australian households have pets, it starts to add up.
• If even a fraction of this waste makes it into waterways, the natural environment could be at risk and so could anyone who interacts with it.

Attracting Pests

It should come as no surprise that pests love pet waste. Flies are one of the worst culprits, landing on fecal matter and spreading it wherever they travel.
What’s worse is that fly larvae feed on feces, so your pet’s poo can act like a maggot magnet if it is not discarded properly.

Persistent Odors

Pet waste is not a pleasant smell. No one wants their home or wheelie bins reeking of such a pungent odor.
When pet feces is not contained in a bag it can continue to smell. Even if you scoop it into a bin and close the lid, the undesirable scent will still escape.
Over time the smell can even worsen if feces are left unbagged and build up on the inside of your waste bin.

Proper Disposal Methods

So if you shouldn’t leave pet waste outside and shouldn’t scoop it directly into your trash bins, what should you do?

Dog Waste

There are a few solutions to this form of pollution, but the simplest is to bag your pet waste. Some individuals use recycled shopping bags and others buy plastic baggies that are made specifically for picking up dog waste.
You can use whatever works best for you as long as all of the waste is contained in a sealed bag before it enters the bins.
You can take your role as a responsible pet parent one step further by using compostable poop bags to pick up your pup’s poo. These bags can be disposed of in your organic bin to minimize the environmental impacts of plastic while keeping your bins sanitary.

Cat Waste

Cat waste should also be disposed of in a sealed bag. Whether it be a few scoops of waste or an entire tray of litter, sealing your cat’s waste is an important part of keeping your bins sanitary and protecting the environment.

Give Your Bins A Fresh Start!

Are you ready to do good for the planet and your pet by properly disposing of their waste?

Give us a call! We will clean out your wheelie bins to give you a fresh start on maintaining a feces-free environment.