After I got my dog, and being a bit of a greenie (only a smidge, no tree hugger here, don’t stop reading now), I wanted to make sure that the poop bags weren’t adding to the world’s plastic problems.

I did a bit of research and started using Oh Crap! bags. Then through the hot dry summer of 2019/2020 (yes a year ago) my rubbish bin really stank. I guess the heat broke the cornstarch bags down just a smidge too fast. As I ran low on stock and lost my full time employment, I started to rethink my options and started an investigation into environmentally friendly dog poop bags.

The claims were out there, but the more I read, the more I realised it wasn’t straightforward. Not all biodegradable bags are equal. Plastics can still be found in some bags.

Over the course of 2020, I’ve used the following five Australian-sourced brands that claim environmental benefits. I did not look at cheap plastic from department or pet stores and also reused Oh Crap! in cooler weather to see how it performed. None of the below links get me anything, they are purely convenient for you. 🙂

Tailz Tailz Biodegradable Dog Poo Bags – Tailz Biodegradable Dog Poop Bags | Eco Friendly | Australian Certified Compostable

OhCrap Oh Crap Dog Poop Bags® – Australia’s No1 Non Plastic Poop Bag – Oh Crap®

BioBag BioBag Compostable and Biodegradable Bags | Flora & Fauna Australia (floraandfauna.com.au)

BioTuff Biotuff Earth Friendly Compostable Bags

Beco Beco Bags Eco Friendly Poop Bags – Single Roll 300 pack (petstock.com.au)

I scored the brands on price, environmental claims, then my favourite after using. I hope this analysis is helpful for those of you searching to be a responsible dog owner. One thing I thought was good too, was that both BioBag and BioTuff offer other rubbish bags as well. Potentially making them better options if you want to purchase all your greenie bags in one place.

Company	Available	Made From	Certification	Postage	Cost	Per Bag Cost
Beco Bags	Pet Stock in store petstock.com.au	Plant Resin & Polymers	*OK Compost *TUV Home 50329 *EN13432 *ASTM D6400	* Free Postage * In Store Purchase	60x$11.99 120x$16.99 270x$21.99	0.19983 0.141583 0.0814
Biobag	biobagworld.com.au biome.com.au nourishlife.com.au flora&fauna.com.au	polyethylene free		Free Postage	2500x$265 50x$5.30	0.106 0.106
Bio Tuff	biotuff.com.au	plant-based compostable GMO Free	*Aus Std A54736 *AS5810 Home Compostable *EN13432 *USA ASTM *D6400 *Japan Green Pla	$6.50	60x$9.80 (W Dispenser) 60x$7.70 2400x$214	0.1633 0.1283 0.08916
Oh Crap!	ohcrap.com.au	cornstarch	*ASTM 6400 TUV Austria *OK Home Compost *IS017088:2012 *EN13432 *ASTM D6400	$9.50 Flat Road	40x$12.99 (free postage) 180x$29.99 380x$44.99	0.32475 0.21938 0.14339
Tailz	tailz.com.au	Bioplastics cornstarch no micro plastics	*Home Compost AS 5810 *Indust Compost AS4736	Free postage	180x$29.99 240x$37.99 75x$19.99 (W dispenser)	0.1666 0.158291 0.26653

On price, I rated the bags:

• 1 Beco – You can save $2.40 on having an autoshipment set up.
• 2 BioTuff
• 3 Biobag – The pricing listed is from Biobag World site
• 4 OhCrap
• 5 Tailz

On environmental claims, I rated the bags:

• 1&2 BioTuff – both these companies have similar certification
• 1&2 Oh Crap
• 3&4 Biobag – both these companies have similar certification
• 3&4 Tailz
• 5 Beco Bags These take 1-5 years to break down in the environment. Under the right conditions.

My favourite bags to use rating:

• 1 Oh Crap – Great bag, good feel, sometimes difficult to open. Decent size for all quantities of poop.
• 2 Tailz – Great bag for large dogs! Again sometimes difficult to open, but I guess that might be a normal occurrence with the sort of material. Has handles for easy tie off.
• 3 Biobag – These bags come in a freezer bag style flat pack rather than a roll, so not as convenient to carry with you. They had a hole in the top and some confusing instructions on the bag on how to tie it off. A large bag though, for those whose dogs really take a dump!
• 4 BioTuff – These were very easy bags to use, and had handle which made for easy tying off. But they were small. If you have a medium, large or just a big pooper, don’t bother trying these.
• 5 Beco bags – I needed to lick my fingers to be able to open these bags, and they were fairly tough to tear off the roll.

After all of that, I have decided to stick with Oh Crap bags, but there are other options out there if necessary. It may be that your dog is a terrific pooper and you need the size of Tailz or BioBag. Either way, I hope you found this a helpful piece.