Poop? Or no poop?
Let’s be honest. Composting can seem pretty gross to the unitiated. 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.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Mike 12.21.08 at 9:12 pm
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?
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supercomposter 01.22.09 at 10:12 pm
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.
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chris 05.29.09 at 1:25 am
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!
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Jenny 06.26.09 at 6:09 pm
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.
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Lauren 07.05.09 at 3:14 pm
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.
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Tina 07.31.09 at 2:40 pm
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.
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Dick 03.03.10 at 10:19 am
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
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lars Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
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?
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