A Solution to the Dog Shit Conundrum?

Even if you don't have a 4-legged friend, I'm curious to hear your thoughts

“Helps the grass grow!” a friend who grew up in North Carolina said. “Ain’t no reason to pick up the dog shit.”

I think we can all agree that it’s pretty awful to step in dog droppings. Especially when barefoot.

But putting dog dingleberries in plastic bags and throwing the load in the trash has always bothered me.

Are landfills set up to deal with canine caca?

What about the environmental impact of making plastic bags and then waiting for said plastic to biodegrade?

(In case you were wondering: “Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photodegrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.” PDF about plastic bag pollution can be found here.)

Plus dog owners in America have this pesky habit of picking up the poop, tying off the bag, and then LEAVING the bag on the side of the sidewalk or trail. The bags bake in the sun and the off-gassing plastic combined with the pupper nanny smells oh-so-delicioso. Um. Hello. What. Is. Up. With. That?

So what’s an eco-minded dog owner to do?

It’s bad to leave the dog dung where a shoe can step on it.

Plastic pollution sucks balls.

So what’s a responsible and eco-minded pet owner to do with the poo?

I think I’ve found a solution to this crappy conundrum.