With respect to why poop disposal is important, Frischmann says what many of us already know, but she says it better. “Dog feces is not only unsightly and inconvenient to have on sidewalks and yards, but it also can contain harmful organisms," Frischmann explains. "In addition to bacteria, the feces of meat eaters [like dogs] may contain harmful parasides such as worms. Because other dogs sniff feces (and some eat feces), bacteria, viruses and other parasites are passed from one animal to another.”
Frischmann also notes that “when rain passes over dog feces and washes into storm drains, these drains often conduct the runoff directly into rivers and streams … What this means is that the organisms [in the feces] are moved into the water supply, along with high levels of nitrogen, which build and cause the algal blooms that deplete oxygen from the water, harming fish and other animals that live in the water.”
Clearly, then picking up poop is the responsible thing for dog owners to do—but what’s the best way to do it? Frischmann isn’t fussy. “You can use any bag for bagging poop because anything is better than not picking up poop,” she explains.
Frischmann notes that currently, the sort of bag used for poop disposal doesn’t matter. Even a plastic bag is fine, “because the feces is going into a plastic lined landfill. This environment makes biodegradable bags less effective,” she says.
That said, Frischmann acknowledges that biodegradable bags carry a certain advantage. They “encourage people to press for a better method of disposal—industrial grade composting of dog waste—which would require a compostable bag. I figure, if we keep advocating, we’ll eventually get curbside collection and industrial composting.”
We like Frischmann’s idea of that brave new poop disposal world—if only because our trash collectors currently tend to leave at least one or two bags of poop in our dumpster when they come to collect our trash.
(Pictured above: The cover of Pets and the Planet, from the author's website)
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