Here’s Why the Porch Potty is Better for The Environment and Your Wallet
When you’re looking for the most eco-friendly dog potty on the market, look no further than the Porch Potty! Unlike our competitors, the Porch Potty is an investment piece that will last a lifetime. The only part that needs replacement is the sod, of which you get the option of synthetic grass, or live grass delivered fresh to your doorstep.
So why else choose Porch Potty above the rest of the dog potty options out there? Check out our analysis of why our dog potty is the best for the environment and your wallet.
The Scoop on Puppy Pads
Puppy pee pads have been a popular staple for pet owners potty training their new puppy or having a spot for their adult dog to go in the middle of the night. But no matter the size of the dog using them, how long do those puppy pads last? And have you ever thought about how many of those pads you throw away every day?
Not to mention how soggy and gross the puppy pads get within a few uses, as well as how dirty they make your floor after your dog’s pee leaks through. These pads may claim that they’re leak-proof, but accidents can undoubtedly happen because dogs use them multiple times a day.
When we’re trying to be better to the earth, puppy pads only create more trash that gets added to our already overflowing landfills.
Assume that you use two puppy pads per day for an entire year, which is 365 days. Therefore, we estimate that you would use about 730 puppy pads per year!
The average cost for a 40-pack of extra-large puppy pads is about $50 each. It seems like a good deal at first, but you will constantly be buying fresh pads throughout the year.
Let’s say that you use two puppy pads a day for 30 days: that’s 60 pads your dog is going through monthly, so you’ll have to buy two packs per month to keep up. So you’ll be spending about $100 every month on the same box of puppy pads, which calculates to $1,200 per year!
Compare that to investing in one Porch Potty with live grass delivered to your door monthly. Let’s say that you buy the Porch Potty standard model for $279, with the live grass specifically designed for this model for $59. If you bought six deliveries of the live grass throughout the year, all of these costs would total $633.
What about cardboard?
The Porch Potty is the clear winner against puppy pads for your budget, but how does the Porch Potty stack up against the dog potty boxes made of recyclable cardboard? Many of these boxes claim they are more eco-friendly because they are 100% biodegradable. Although this could be true, it’s not as good for the environment as it seems.
Most recyclable and biodegradable cardboard needs a wet environment to break down. So, for example, you would ideally need an outdoor space where you could bury the discarded box and hose the area down for it to break down into the earth.
When wet, cardboard can take up to three months to decompose. This process happens because decomposing life forms thrive in moist environments, so once the area is dry again, the biodegradable process slows down significantly. So, that means you’d have to hose it down every so often, which causes more water use. Even then, cardboard never truly breaks down in the earth.
Because these dog potties are mostly bought by people who live in apartments, how many of them will have an outdoor space where they can hose down their cardboard dog potty? Typically, these cardboard boxes arrive by monthly subscription, so you would have to find a way to recycle that box every month.
Not all cardboard boxes are recyclable, either. For the most part, if it’s clean and dry, it can be recycled. However, how clean can a dog potty box made of cardboard be after a month of use? If cardboard boxes are dirty, soiled, or moldy, they cannot be recycled and, ultimately, end up as more landfill waste. They are also often coated with wax and other sealants that interfere renders it unrecyclable as well as hinders biodegradability.
Unlike our cardboard competitors, the Porch Potty is the best dog potty option for the environment in multiple ways. While our potty platform isn’t biodegradable, that’s precisely the point. Porch Potty is a worthy investment built to last a lifetime and more. Many of our customers have had their original Porch Potty for over ten years and it's still holding strong!
Even though the Porch Potty small, standard, and Grass to Go models don’t have sprinklers, all you need to do is pour water over the synthetic or live grass. Your dog’s urine then drains out through the drainage hose or into the Catch Basin for a clean platform. Plus, you can keep the surface extra clean and free of odors with our Turftastic spray specifically designed to refresh the grass surface.
The Porch Potty’s beautiful, all-weather wicker resin material over the steel structure withstands the elements. Wicker is a strong material that can easily last 10-15 years of use, even outside. Some cardboard dog potties claim that their material is 100% water-resistant, but they most likely wouldn’t hold up on a balcony during a rainy day.
Think of the Porch Potty like a metal, reusable water canteen. Sure, it’s not recyclable or biodegradable, but it will get much more use out of it than a reusable cup or plastic water bottle. This eco-friendly goal is what the Porch Potty strives for: getting the most use out of it to keep it out of the earth and the trash.
The only replacement needed for the Porch Potty is the live grass if you choose this option over the synthetic grass. Although the live grass is certainly eco-friendly, even the synthetic grass will provide years of reuse. In addition, because of the drainage system of the Porch Potty, these grass options get perfectly cleaned and refreshed.
Shipping the Porch Potty is also friendlier to the environment because its packaging uses no plastic, which means it arrives with no packing peanuts, styrofoam, or other plastics. The Porch Potty comes in one Kraft shipping box, which uses no colored inks and is recyclable. For delivery, it takes one truck to deliver a shipment of Porch Potty’s to our warehouses.
Whereas delivering a monthly subscription of a cardboard competitor and puppy pads requires more truck deliveries because these products don’t last more than a month. So, there are more delivery trucks on the road at a time with these temporary-use products.
So, for what’s worth, you’ll get more for your money with the Porch Potty because it will outlast and outperform any cardboard or paper competitor. For the time and energy spent cleaning up after these temporary solutions, you could be doing what matters most, like spending more time with your dog.
Stop spending precious time and money on a dog potty that needs constant replacement. Instead, invest in the affordable luxury of the everlasting Porch Potty that will forever be your dog’s piece of luscious green space to do their business every day.