Send your question to Umbra!
Q. Dear Umbra,
What is the greenest way to dispose of pet waste? Scoop and flush, or bag and throw in the trash?
Jenifer M.
Vienna
A. Dearest Jenifer,
Flush or toss?The greenest way to dispose of pet waste is to dispose of your pet, I suppose. No pet, no waste! But barring that revolutionary scheme, a few other options present themselves.
You have not said what kind of pet you have, but judging by your reference to scooping, I am going to assume it is a cat. The time-tested advice for felines is to bag and throw away the soiled litter, including poo. If you are on a municipal sewer line, you may be able to flush the feces, but you should check with your town; if you have a septic tank, it’s not advised. By the way, when you choose kitty litter, don’t buy a brand that contains clay—you might want to consult our product tester for the best non-clay options.
If you are scooping the waste of a dog or other animal, the same truth applies: bagging is best. It’s gross to think about all that pet waste rotting in landfills, but it’s a teeny bit less gross than imagining it seeping into our waterways or contaminating our gardens with its pathogens. (Some people compost pet waste, but it must be done very, very carefully—here are some tips.)
Of course, we hear occasionally about efforts to turn pet poop into power—I fur-vently hope “they” keep working on this idea, and I’m also very glad that is not my line of work.
Ferretly,
Umbra
Q. Dear Umbra,
I hear a lot about clean coal technology. Is it true that we can use coal in a “clean” way? I don’t believe it. Can you please explain this?
Anand
Manhattan
A. Dearest Anand,
You know the expression “go with your gut”? Methinks you should. You don’t believe coal can be used in a clean way, and you are right.
It is accurate, however, to say that coal can be used in a cleaner way than it traditionally has. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu and others point out that, since coal is abundant, relatively cheap, and unlikely to disappear from our energy mix any time soon, we should find cleaner ways of feeding our addiction. These include turning coal into a gas before burning it, and capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions. Here’s a fun and colorful clean-coal overview from the BBC.
Will these “cleaner” methods prevent coal from harming our health and polluting our air and water? Will they stop coal companies from blowing the tops off of mountains? Will they keep miners from being trapped and killed underground? Not likely. There’s a reason my fellow Grist writer David Roberts calls coal the “enemy of the human race.” It is an outmoded, dangerous source of power. We should all lobby our utilities and our representatives to give us better, safer, healthier options.
I wrote a bit more about the clean-coal conundrum last year; you can find my answer here. I also recommend you swing on over to the Department of Energy to get a sense of their plans, and visit iLoveMountains.org for a real, human understanding of where coal actually comes from.
Sequesterly,
Umbra
Q. Hi Umbra,
I am a college student and I’m really involved in and passionate about making my university more sustainable. One of the issues that I am trying to address is our current disposal of mattresses. Every year, my university “disposes” of 1,200 mattresses by incinerating them for energy (people think this is awesome and sustainable—I wish I was kidding). So, I have been spending endless nights researching a safer alternative for this herd of mattresses. I can’t recycle them because it’s too damn expensive (about $20,000/yr). I can’t donate them because they are ripped and flat—who wants a holey pancake mattress? I can’t Freecycle them because bedbugs are a huge issue in my area and I don’t think I can find 1,200 people who want college student mattresses (think about what you did on your mattress back in the day…). So I am asking, I am BEGGING, you for help!
Mattress Maiden
Boston, Mass.
A. Dearest MM,
What I did on my mattress back in the day ... let’s see, I slept on it. I read a lot of Aldo Leopold. I sorted my collection of fallen leaves by size and hue. What do you do on your mattress?
Never mind. The real question is, why is it so hard to dispose of mattresses in this country? I’m afraid, dear MM, you have outlined exactly the problem: Mattresses can rarely be donated, especially as bedbug concerns (real or imagined) increase. They take up too much space in landfills, so much in fact that some municipalities will no longer accept them. And though recycling programs are cropping up, they are few, far between, and can be fiscally frustrating.
Still, I think recycling is the best bet. Interestingly, Massachusetts is home to one of the nation’s few mattress recyclers, and another outfit is venturing into New England soon. It’s amazing what happens to your mattress: the wood is chipped for energy, the steel springs recycled, the cotton and foam used for insulation or other textile needs. I’m not sure which of the many fine Beantown schools you attend, but I see that Tufts and MIT both recycle mattresses. Those schools are dealing with a much smaller quantity than you mention, but you might contact them to find out how they’ve sprung over any obstacles. (You might also see if your school is retiring too many mattresses too soon.)
Another possible resource: Some schools rely on the help of the Institutional Recycling Network—you might contact them as well, if you haven’t already.
Above all else, it seems to me that the burning of these mattresses is a misguided plan. For one thing, mattresses are treated with chemicals to make them resistant to fire—so once they are coaxed to go up in smoke, they likely release all sorts of nasty fumes. That’s way more squirm-inducing than thinking about the damages that might have resulted from certain collegiate activities.
Stain removerly,
Umbra
The hidden costs and benefits of things we take for granted
CBS News previews its no-holds-barred report on antibiotics in livestock
Comments
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nancybtoo Posted 10:43 am
29 Nov 2009
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Tasermons Partner Posted 11:29 am
29 Nov 2009
Geez, almost every recycling station I've been to in Texas takes old furniture, appliances, and mattresses (of course, they probably just strip 'em of the fabric and recycle and plastic in the support and springs).
I know she said she didn't think freecycle was a good idea, but maybe she should at least try callin' the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Red Cross, local crisis center, or the thrift stores to see if they will take any.
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Zain Posted 12:54 pm
29 Nov 2009
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amazingdrx Posted 11:54 pm
29 Nov 2009
The homeowner/renter will pay for roto-rootering and if it clogs and freezes the sewer pipe system leading to the sewage tank and drain field, you will pay for steam thawing too.
Dog and cat poo gets mixed in with leaves and pine needles, then covered with more leaves and pine needles, under the trees where it fertilizes them for incredible growth. Soil microorganisms at the bottom of the pile and worms take care of the conversion to safe fertilizer.
Fresh poo needs to all go in a section that has already composted for a few months, rake the leaves and compost back to almost ground level then add the fresh material. Rake the compost back on top of the poo, it contains the microorganisms and worms waiting for more organic matter to feed on. You can also add lime in over the bottom fresh layer as long as you are fertilizing alkaline loving trees (don't add lime under pine trees), then cover with a nice thick layer of leaves and pine needles.
With the next batch of poo just move down the line a few feet and repeat. As you continue along under the trees eventually after months you get to the end and start over with the area that has composted for those months.
If you have trouble with kids or animals getting into the compost, cover it with pieces of chicken wire, you simply lift the pieces to add more poo. Cover the wire with leaves so it doesn't look trashy. Where do you get the leaves? Just don't burn or bag them, rake them under the trees instead.
On clean coal, the problem that you left out Umbra, at least in this answer, is that the added energy needed to separate and transport and pump the CO2 underground (even if it actually stayed underground which is doubtful), means you need to burn extra coal. The tanker train with liquified CO2 coming from the clean coal power plant would be longer than the coal train going in.
Wind is now cheaper than dirty coal and solar is getting there.
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Rose Braz Posted 2:58 pm
30 Nov 2009
One of the most disconcerting diseases facing California sea otters has been the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This microorganism isnt naturally found in the ocean environment, but it is killing Sea Otters. Marine biologists have determined that the microorganism is getting into the ocean through cat feces the T. gondii life cycle can only reach a stage hearty enough to survive the marine environment in cats, and when the organism is shed in cat feces it can wash away into the marine environment. This is why all cat litter sold in California must have a label warning people not to flush it down the toilet.
Help encourage Sea Otter recovery by always landfillingnever flushingkitty litter. If you dont have a cat, ask a cat owner you know to do the same.
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katmainomad Posted 2:54 pm
01 Dec 2009
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