January 16
NEW: Un-Patented Pooper Scooper
OK, I have a confession to make. Today I feel REALLY stupid. Ever since our beautiful border collie Charlie joined our family we’ve gone through packets and packets of plastic dog pooh bags, trying to be responsible citizens every time we take him for a walk. I hated the idea of all the plastic but did it anyway.
I’m not sure why.
Sometimes it seems to take a long time for the penny to drop.
Today I realised that all I had to do was take a bucket and trowel with me on our walks.
So, for my new action today, I charged off on our walk with my brilliant new pooper scooper. No more plastic bags in this house! It was actually far easier and more enjoyable than using a bag, and obviously makes so much more sense. Why I kept tying organic matter up in plastic and sending it to landfill still defies comprehension. But it is what it is, and won’t happen again.
Having the trowel came in quite handy. With my secateurs in my backpack and trowel in my bucket, I was well equipped to dig out this Buddleia that we came across on our walk.
I LOVE Buddleias, or Butterfly Bushes, but I’ve observed first-hand what a nightmare they are for our native vegetation. In the photo above you can see how the seed has spread from someone’s garden and then grew in this crack in the concrete. From here the seed would wash down the road and into the stormwater, and then into the Bush.
They’re incredibly tenacious. Check out this plant in a wall in Katoomba:
Down around Katoomba Falls they’re marching into the bush with blackberries and Montbretia and shading out our native species.
So, today, I cut up the bush on my walk and took the flowers home to enjoy. The bucket will come in handy tomorrow when I cut off some more broom seeds on our walk.
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9 Comments
Meredith · 17/01/2022 at 9:43 am
Go Lis! We don’t have a dog, but I have always wondered if there could be an alternative to all those plastic bags.
My action was also pet (and poo) related. I put my two quail in a cage in the garden that’s easy for me to move around so they can be a “quail tractor”. I’m guessing this is going to make life a lot happier, healthier and more interesting for them as they have fresh places to scratch around and find tasty morsels, and they can help improve the soil with their poo while they’re at it.
Lis Bastian · 23/01/2022 at 7:53 am
Such a win/win for the quail and your soil. Imagine them being extremely cute and super easy to move around!
Paula · 17/01/2022 at 8:58 am
Good idea. And you can use dog dedicated compost bins to put the faeces in when you get back from walks. These are available from Bunnings et.al. It’s also possible to train dogs not to defecate in public spaces so you don’t have to carry a bucket around. A sharp NO! usually does the trick. Dog’s aren’t stupid, they get the message.
Carla · 17/01/2022 at 8:03 am
Good idea – any thoughts on the poo bags that claim to be bio-degradable? I’m also trying to get back to making dog food again (meat, offal and some nutri-bulleted/ blended up veggies) so that I can stop buying cans of doog food.
Lis Bastian · 23/01/2022 at 7:56 am
I’ve never experienced any ‘biodegradable bags’ actually breaking down in a home composting system. You’ve inspired me to make my own dog food now too!
Sunflower · 17/01/2022 at 6:37 am
Could I ask what you then do with the poo – compost in a particular way in a designated area of the garden? It is something I am considering undertaking. I often collect rubbish in my dog poo bag. It is disappointing that I pick up something everyday.
Carla · 17/01/2022 at 8:05 am
I compost dog poo – it seems to break down quite happily in the general compost. Otherwise you could bury it, I guess…
Lis Bastian · 23/01/2022 at 8:04 am
You should separate it from any compost you’ll put on edible gardens because of pathogens and parasites that aren’t broken down by composting. Domestic composting apparently doesn’t get hot enough to kill them.
Lis Bastian · 23/01/2022 at 8:03 am
Check out the following 2 posts about how I’m setting up a dog poo worm farm composting system:
January 21: http://bmpluriversity.org/january-21/
January 22: http://bmpluriversity.org/january-22/