Have you ever seen a dog waste bag when you're outside?
I'm sure many of us have; they are sadly a recurring feature in daily life. Lots of people use bags but don't dispose of them correctly, whereas other people will leave it unbagged on the pathways. Of course, the majority of people dispose of dog waste responsibly, which is best.
But if you are going to bag it but not dispose of it correctly, is it better to bag it or not? If you just leave it unbagged, it will biodegrade (and there's the added danger of stepping on it – nobody likes doing that!), but it will be quicker to break down than if it is left in a dog waste bag. To just leave it on the pavement is unpleasant but possibly more eco-friendly. There are many signs that tell you to pick up after your dog or risk a fine, so why do people bag it but then not always dispose of it correctly?
If you bag it, it will take longer to decompose. And you can see dog waste bags everywhere: in the street, in trees, in bushes… the list of places where they are seen is endless. It seems as if it’s just acceptable to have dog waste bags just lying around in neighbourhoods now. Maybe it would be helpful if there were more dog-waste bins.
A local dog owner, Ms. Gill, said: “I think when you’re out walking your dog, if it makes a poo in the pathway or on a piece of grass that, maybe, children would play on or something like that, that it should be picked up. But I think that if they go off into the bushes, or if it’s off-path, and they make a poo, I don’t think you really need to pick that up. I think that it’s fine to leave there, because it probably is quite good for the environment, and no-one’s going to step in it there; it’s not going to bother anyone is it?”
So if it’s not disposed of correctly, the question remains: to bag or not to bag?
