What's the most effective way to pick up after and dispose of dog waste?

Question

I carry plastic grocery bags when I walk my dogs, and I pick up after their leavings. I use the bags like gloves, then turn them inside-out. Sometimes the bags have holes in the bottom from poor manufacturing and I have to be tactical about how I pick things up (thanks, Wal-Mart! The best bags seem to be from Target.) I live in a tropical area with sawgrass, so when I pick up, I always take a little clump of the grass with me so nothing is left behind for anyone to step into. I don't have a compost heap to toss the poop on, so the bag always gets tied up and thrown in the trash.

I have a neighbor who walks with a newspaper and hurriedly throws it under his dog as soon as he notices it squat. It seems to work for him, but I've noticed him miss a few times and have to pick it up using an extra page or two.

Obviously this isn't Envy, where one can vaporize a dog poop with a spray, but are there other ways to pick up after a dog? I feel like I should be somewhat more environmentally friendly about this, like using paper bags, putting starter seeds in the bag and tossing it deep into the woods.

Answer 1

If you are looking for an environmentally friendly, convenient, and efficient way to clean up after your dog's waste, there are several products for this.

There are products which are built for discreet and convenient waste disposal. They are basically a small cloth bag with multiple compartments, usually one to hold fresh bags and another to hold bags with waste in them. They can clip onto a belt, a leash, etc. Here is one product and here is another.

This also satisfies the environmentally friendly aspect of your question because it allows for you to pack your own bags or roll of bags. These bags can be environmentally friendly and biodegradeable. These bags do just this.

A quotation from their product description:

GreenNPack eco friendly products are designed to turn plastic into a material that has a completely different molecular structure that is bio-assimilated in the open environment similar to the decomposition of a leaf.

If these options aren't convenient for you, you may look into a portable bag dispenser for animal waste, although it may be harder for you to find biodegradable bags for this.

As far as disposing of the bags, if you use biodegradable bags, you could put them in the trash and they will eventually decompose like any organics would. You could also consider using the waste for gardening purposes (compost).

If you wanted to throw the waste into the woods with seeds, this may be a little bit more difficult. You could grab a large leaf (if this is possible where you live) and always have some seeds in the bag cloth bag. Using the bag as a glove, grab the large leaf, pick up the waste, use your free hand to sprinkle some seeds on it, wrap the waste in the leaf, close the bag over everything, tie it so that you can get it undone, and then when you are by the woods, empty the leaf out of the bag into the woods. This may be complicated, but it is just a suggestion.