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My mother has to use a beside potty for number 1 & 2. We have been using potty bags we can just toss out. Well, today we got a call from our landlord stating the Department of Sanitation sent them a warning about human excrement being in the dumpster at our address. The dumpster is shared by 4 other homes, so luckily they didn't know it was us but told us to make sure we don't do that because the DOS warned them that if it happened again they would terminate their contract with them, and we wouldn't have garbage services. Now I am concerned. What am I supposed to do? She uses the bathroom daily, so we have to change the bag daily. I don't know how we are supposed to dispose of it now. We are thinking about just letting her use the bucket in the potty, and we just dump it in the toilet and clean it out each day. The bag was just so much easier and less time-consuming since we already have so many other things we have to take care of with her as well as work and other daily life activities. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

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I'd call the mayor of the town you live in. The Department of Sanitation had something to say about the excrement being contained in bags and thrown away?
Along those lines of thinking, does this mean that no one living in the town can have cats (because the litter box has to be emptied), dogs (their poop has to be bagged and thrown away), or babies (they're in diapers)? I hardly think that pet owners store their pets' waste and bring it to the city dump. Or that parents save their baby's dirty diapers and do the same.
Talk to the mayor. Seriously.
In the meantime, you're going to have to start emptying the commode into the flushing toilet. Yes, it's absolutely disgusting but until you hear from your town's mayor on what type of waste disposal is permitted, this is what you will have to do.
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I used kitty litter. 1. because of the back splash of the waste. 2. easier.
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AnnReid Mar 2023
But be aware that kitty litter CAN’T be flushed, NOR can human waste mixed with kitty litter be disposed of in household kitchen garbage.
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We used to put some lysol diluted with water at the bottom of the commode to make dumping easier.
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I was surprised when I learned that many people bag up the waste from the bedside commode, I've never understood why you wouldn't just flush it. If you leave an inch or so of water in the bottom of the bucket and perhaps a squirt of pinesol it can make the clean up easier.
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When my husband had to use the bedside commode for the last 22 months of his life(just for poop as he had a permanent catheter)I just put about 5 inches or so of water in the bottom of the commode and sprayed some Poo-Pourri in it, as he was in our living room and I didn't want our house to smell like poop.
I then just took it to the toilet and flushed it down and cleaned out the basin with ammonia, so it was ready for the next day.
That is such an easy solution.
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For mom, I put an open disposable diaper flat inside the bucket. I used the cheapest ones i could find. After use, I put it in trash bag and disposed of them the same way as any other disposable diaper (in trash).
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No, no, no and no. You do not put human excrement in bags in the garbage. I know it seems a moot point, as the baby diapers full of poop and pee that we throw out daily must go to the billions. Nevertheless, this is a no no by any rules.

So no bag. Plastic is the dickens anyway. Just the bucket, and the periodic emptying into the toilet, brush and flush. Use a bit of bleach periodically to really sanitize.

Yes, plastic is easier. That's why we are burying our civilization in it.
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To be honest, I always tried to clean as much off as I could from the baby diaper into the toilet. I had a Genie so they got wrapped up.

I never understood those bags. Just empty the bucket in your toilet and flush. Rinse the bucket well and like said put some water in it. I would use Clorox wipes to wash it out.
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sunnydayclouds Mar 2023
That’s what I did.
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Interesting question and answers. If human waste is forbidden in landfills, then what about millions of dog poop bags that are tossed in public trash cans daily?
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I do not like the disposable diapers, either.
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Can you call a plumber or contractor and have a small flush toilet installed in her bedroom? Add a bidet and auto-flush and you are good to go.
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michelle7728 Mar 2023
If your suggestion was serious about installing a flush toilet in her room, other than being outrageously expensive, I'm sure there are city/county codes that say it has to be in a separate room with tile on a floor and a sink.
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The apparent double standard of allowing baby diapers/animal waste, in the trash is perplexing. Quite possibly it may be that the bagged adult waste is more detectable by the workers who have to pick it up, so they tell the Department of Sanitation. Emptying the commode into the flushing toilet is the immediate remedy, despite its crossing of the boundary of esthetic sensibility. Saying this as a caregiver.
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BurntCaregiver: "Along those lines of thinking, does this mean that no one living in the town can have cats (because the litter box has to be emptied), dogs (their poop has to be bagged and thrown away), or babies (they're in diapers)? I hardly think that pet owners store their pets' waste and bring it to the city dump. Or that parents save their baby's dirty diapers and do the same."

Yes! How can dirty diapers and pet poop be allowed? Are there pets or babies in any of the other rentals this landlord has?

This seems to be discrimination on the basis of disability.
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JColl7 Mar 2023
I get the impression the writer is referring to “liquid” waste as well as solid in the bag. That’s a big difference. Kitty litter clumps
up and doggie bags are just solid, no chance of liquid leaking out onto workers, trucks etc. Just empty the potty into the toilet and flush. Easy peasy.
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OMG into the toliet stop using the bag
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Wow.
I am thinking of all those adult diapers that are filled and tossed into trash, presumably ( as well as the kittie litter, dog poo and baby diapers others have mentioned)
I use liners and dump into the toilet and then roll liner and place in adult diaper genie, but I only have urine to flush.
I can appreciate the idea of lining the potty with an adult diaper and disposing of it the same way ( since that is obviously
more socially acceptable to sanitation folks).
I do not have a hospital hopper in my bathroom for disposing of waste and cleaning potty buckets, nor even a deep sink to clean the bucket. I have tried to weigh all options and find the most sanitary option for my vulnerable humans.
My husband just turned 80 and I am close behind him. I expect some others are much older and more debilitated than us.
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They have adult diaper genies. I am confused as to why the sanitation company would complain because people have babies and dispose their diapers in the garbage.

I tried to add a link but apparently you cant do that on this site. Go to Amazon and search for adult diaper disposal and you will find several options.
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KaleyBug Mar 2023
i agree plus if you get the bags with the absorbent pad inside there is no liquid. Those pads are like the inside of a diaper. We kept a large metal trash can in the garage with a black bag. Twice a day we pulled the potty bags with the absorbent pad inside and toilet paper used for wiping. Tied them and put them in the garbage bin in the garage. On trash day we pulled the black bag tied it and put it in the trash. Trash companies do not like lots of small bags. My neighbor with a baby does the same as we did for parent. They did not like her small diaper gennie bags.
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Forget the plastic bag.
Place a bit of water in the "bucket", that will make cleaning it out easier.
As soon as she is done using the commode dump the bucket in the toilet and rinse it out, spray with a sanitizer if you wish and replace it back on/under the commode.
Do this each time. Not any more difficult or time consuming than taking a plastic bag, tying it up and bringing it to the trash bin.
If you still wish to use the bag then just empty the bag into the toilet then toss out the bag.

A comment about the bag...and the possible reason for DOS not wanting it.
There is a big difference between a diaper (baby) an adult incontinence product (tab type or pull up type) and a bag of loose urine and fecal matter.
The absorbent qualities of the incontinence products remove almost all moisture so there is less of a chance that there is liquid or fecal matter that will "contaminate" the inside of a truck as well as the possibility of workers becoming soiled if a bag breaks open.
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Ramona24 Mar 2023
That was very helpful information that you gave, and thank you for doing it in such a nice, informative way unlike some people who have to respond to the author like she's an idiot.
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I agree with granma1954, the bags are probably full of liquid and are easy to bust and contaminate the truck and the drivers. Diapers, litter, etc, aren't liquid, that's the difference. Just do like everyone suggested, keep a little water in the pot, dump in toilet, and then clean and you're done. No plastic, no complaints, and not anymore work than bagging up and taking out.
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My 93-yr-old mom was able to get from her bed to the commode, with some assistance. She would pee and or poop right on the commode. I would then empty the contents of the commode into the actual toilet & flush everything away— then, swish hot water and cleanser inside commode, tip that out into toilet also. Last step was to wipe commode w Clorox or Lysol wipes. Good luck, I hope this is helpful. It is NOT easy.
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You can get flushable liners, but these don't really save enough work to be worthwhile: you'll still want to rinse, clean and disinfect the bucket. It's nobody's favourite chore but it really doesn't take as long as all that.

I would be surprised if you can't check the regulations for your area online. Here, soiled material has to be double-bagged and can then be placed alongside household waste for disposal. There are also recognised colour-codings for waste disposal bags although these are mainly designed for clinical settings - e.g. yellow bags for clinical waste, purple for cytotoxic, tiger-striped for waste etc.

Start with that same Department of Sanitation, I should. You can't possibly be the only family who has to deal with disposal issues and they probably have practical advice to offer.
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Oh, for crying out loud! Right on the potty bags are instructions that say, after use, carefully dispose of waste in toilet. My mom had a commode in her room. I never even knew “potty bags” existed. (IMO a dumb product) A commode is not that difficult to empty in the toilet, rinse, sanitize.
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I have found a little Listerine mouth wash left in urine containers sanitizes and eliminates odors. May be worth a try when not using the bags and emptying contents into the toilet.
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The potty liner bags are also supposed to be emptied into the toilet before disposal. They are meant to save time having to scrub the bucket each time, but not meant for bagging up waste and throwing it in the general garbage.

If you decide to stop using the bags, leave a small amount of water in the bottom of the clean commode bucket to help with future cleanups.

Dealing with human waste properly is just part of caregiving. Dumping waste into the toilet before disposal also applies to diaper use, be it for infants or incontinent adults. Many people are not aware of that either.
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Im want to know what do you do with the poop depend diapers. You can not flush them in the toilet they have to be bag up?
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Sibby58 Mar 2023
Dump solids into toilet, the rest, bag up.
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Use the bucket. Place a small amount of water with some soap/detergent in the bottom (makes it easier to clean). Dump in toilet. Hopefully, toilet is near shower. Get a handheld shower attachment that can "pause" the flow of water and a long hose so you can clean the bucket out easier.
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I used to dump the contents into my toilet, clean the potty bucket, and then flush the toilet.
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CaringDaughter7 Mar 2023
Exactly! The easiest way...
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I read all of the comments and I haven't seen this suggested... There's this stuff called Spill magic.. It absorbs liquids and makes them a gel.. It's basically what's in a diaper.. You could use some of that in the liners to absorb the liquid. It's like 9 bucks for a 3lb bottle.. In my experience that lasts quite a while. I've used it for our bucket potty when we go camping.
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I'm baffled by those insisting that the bedside commode contents absolutely must be dumped into a regular flush toilet.

What about camp toilets that have liner bags? The folks using them don't necessarily have access to a regular toilet into which they could dump any waste, yet it has to go somewhere. I'm assuming that somewhere is a dumpster or trash can.

Now, here's something that might be a helpful tidbit. Some of the bags sold for lining camp toilets have 2 layers. The inner layer has a type of gel built in that absorbs any liquid, making "oopsies" during disposal less likely. Perhaps using those in your mom's bedside commode would work as far as being able to dispose of them in the garbage containers.
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OptimistRealist Mar 2023
Excellent idea. This also adds to the obvious that even campers have to dispose of those bags in dumpsters. I'm thinking that gel might also have chemicals to reduce odor? I feel like your idea is the easiest. Emptying the potty bucket into the toilet, then sanitizing the toilet, specially if there's spillage, rinsing and sanitizing the bucket would be time consuming for caregivers whose daily tasks are already never-ending. Hopefully, ckloraw22 will find what's best for her. There have been a lot of ideas posted for her.
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You dump it in the toilet and then clean out the portable commode bucket. After you dump it in the toilet, you turn on the faucet in the bathtub and put some water in it and then you go back to the toilet and you keep rinsing it out until it’s fairly well cleaned out and then you use toilet paper and baby wipes to finish wiping it and cleaning it and then you spray it with Lysol or some other disinfectant and you put it back in the commode. You are using a portable commode correct? I’m confused.
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You should not be using bags. Dump everything in the toilet and disinfect the commode. It's much easier!
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