EnsoPet Review – A great (pet) dog poo compost system
If you have pets, you have poo! Apologies for starting this EnsoPet review article with some hardcore reality-check, but hey let’s not sugarcoat it.
Pets are lovely, dealing with their poop – not so much!
While my dream pet is the one that goes to the toilet and flushes afterwards, I realise my dreams are pretty wild.
EnsoPet is the best real-world solution I have encountered. I find it to be as good as it gets if you want your pet poo out of your eyesight and nose!
What is EnsoPet?
EnsoPet bokashi compost system is an in-ground and enclosed composting system for pet poo. This composting system consists of a bottomless pyramid-shaped ‘bucket’ with lots of holes and a tight lid (the only bit that is above ground). The bucket gets buried in the garden and you can place dog (or other pets) waste in there for decomposition.
The Enso Pet kit contains the actual system, the bran (with microorganisms) and a pair of tongs.
How does EnsoPet work?
After you have collected your pet’s poo from around the garden (sorry – that bit still requires some manual labour), all I have to do is open the lid and place the collected waste inside the bucket and add microorganisms – contained in a bran mix – to it. These ‘magic creatures’ will help accelerate the breakdown and decomposition of that waste.
How do I assemble and install EnsoPet?
I found EnsoPet surprisingly easy to assemble. EnsoPet consists of four panels that get ‘clicked’ together – easy peasy!
The installation was a bit more labour-intensive than that as it involved digging a hole in my garden. While digging is not my favourite job, it is a one-off! Once the hole has been dug, all you have to do is to insert the system in there. The lid is the only bit that should be above ground.
It is recommended that you place it at least one meter away from any vegetable gardens or any soil that will be used to grow edible produce.
After installing the system, I placed a few heavy bricks to make sure scrub turkeys did not go there to un-dig it!
How do I use and maintain EnsoPet?
As mentioned above, the EnsoPet works by adding poop and bran that contains microorganisms. But there is more to it!
EnsoPet is a composting system! As such the success and efficiency of your composting will depend on how you maintain it! To maximise your results, here are some tips:
- Place EnsoPet is a sunny and well drained spot
- Like any compost, it likes oxygen. You can do this by stirring the contents with a garden fork.
- Again, like any other composting system, it likes carbon-rich elements such as dry leaves. Adding a little bit of this is helpful – just be careful not to overfill!
- Keep it moist by watering the soil near it.
The theory is the more air, moist and sun it gets the faster it will break down!
I must confess I am not always on top of my composting and my waste does not break as fast as I wish. I am only human and between work and kids, a lot of jobs do not get much attention!
Does EnsoPet get full? Do I have to empty the contents?
There’s no straight answer to this question as it depends on a few things.
Firstly, the amount of poop that goes in there – which is directly correlated to the number of pets you have, their size and their poop size. Obviously, the more pets and the bigger pets will produce more waste!
Secondly, how dedicated you are to composting! By following the composting tips above, your pet waste should break down quickly eliminating or dramatically reducing the need to empty the system
However, if you are like me – not the most dedicated composter – and have a big dog – that does big poops, your EnsoPet may get full after a few months! That means having to empty it and find another spot for it!
Since I hate digging holes, I decided to buy a second system! Similarly to what I do with my Bokashi bin, I alternate the systems. When one gets close to full (it should never be overfilled as you need air), I move to the next one. That allows extra time for the first system to break the waste down even further.
Can I bury compostable bags?
No, I don’t recommend it. Although compostable bags are… hmmm… compostable. Their breakdown is much slower compared to the breakdown of animal waste. That means your EnsoPet bucket could get full pretty quickly as breakdown becomes extremely slow-paced.
I would leave the bags just for walks in the park and around the neighbourhood, where there is no dog poo compost system.
Does EnsoPet work for cats, guinea pigs and other pets?
As a dog owner, the experience I have is around dog poop, however EnsoPet, as the name suggests, caters for all pets – that includes dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, rabbits etc.
It is actually important to be careful with this as some pet poop compost systems only cater to dogs – which is great if you only deal with dog waste.
In my case, despite being a dog owner, I do get visits from cats who use my garden as their toilet! So, needless to say, having a system that caters for all pets is a bonus.
Where can I buy EnsoPet?
I am a big online shopper – especially after so many lockdowns. I bought EnsoPet online from Biome, however, you can get it from one of their retail stores.
What are the benefits of composting dog waste with EnsoPet?
For me, the smell is the main benefit, but there are others.
Keeping dog waste underground helps to eliminate smells. I no longer use my rubbish bin to dispose of dog poop. I find that even inside a sealed bag, it still smells.
Since I collect the poop and throw it straight inside my Enso, it has helped me to reduce the amount of plastic bags or compostable bags I buy and use. Good for the environment and good for my bank account!
It is easy to get the kids to use it and it keeps things tidy.
Are there any downsides to EnsoPet?
When I bought my second system from Biome, I wish I had the option to buy only the actual system – not the entire kit. But that is a minor thing.
Overall, my experience with EnsoPet has been great and I can’t imagine having pets and not having an in-ground poop composting system. I highly recommend it!
