Author Topic: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags  (Read 3755 times)

roomtempmayo

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My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« on: March 18, 2021, 11:14:11 AM »
I imagine many dog owners are familiar with the anxiety resulting from a sudden realization that their dog is going to drop a #2 at any moment, and you've forgotten your dog poop bags at home.  Everything stops while you madly search from some little bit of poly-something-or-other on the street with which to clean up after the dog.  In that moment, a poop bag is precious, and I'll spend the remainder of my walk looking for something else that can serve that purpose in case my dog has a second round in the chamber.

A new condo complex near me has recently solved this problem for the whole neighborhood by simply putting out garbage cans with poop bag dispensers on every corner.  Cynics might think this would end poorly: cheapskate dog walkers would pilfer the bags so the dispensers would always be empty, kids would haul them down the block and leave them blowing in the wind.  But the parade of horribles doesn't present itself.  People take a bag when they need one, pick up their dog poop, and put it in the trash.  Nobody hordes the poop bags because there are plenty.  Simply providing seemingly-unlimited bags for free turns an economy of scarcity into an economy of abundance at very low cost, and makes the world a better place for everyone in the process.

***

What other goods do we think of as scarce that could actually cheaply and realistically be made abundant, making the world a better place in the process?

jehovasfitness23

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2021, 11:20:25 AM »


***

What other goods do we think of as scarce that could actually cheaply and realistically be made abundant, making the world a better place in the process?

tamps

cool7hand

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2021, 11:29:13 AM »
Great question!

Every now and again, we buy a book that the library won't buy for us. I'd love to see some system for a neighborhood or town book swap. Someone should build an app for that!

dougules

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2021, 11:34:26 AM »
Great question!

Every now and again, we buy a book that the library won't buy for us. I'd love to see some system for a neighborhood or town book swap. Someone should build an app for that!

I've seen a few houses that put out a little library.  It's a little book cabinet with glass doors, and it sits on top of a post by the sidewalk kind of like a mail box.  I think people can add and take books as they want. 

tygertygertyger

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2021, 11:41:06 AM »
A non-profit in my city opened a tool library. Patrons donate money to join for a year long membership, and it's run by volunteers. No minimum requirement on the donation, just what you can afford. You can check out any tool for a week at a time - and the library includes handtools and power tools, but also: sewing machines, kitchen-aid mixers, breadmakers, and now a seed library, which rocks.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2021, 12:28:51 PM by tygertygertyger »

chemistk

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2021, 11:52:46 AM »
Great question!

Every now and again, we buy a book that the library won't buy for us. I'd love to see some system for a neighborhood or town book swap. Someone should build an app for that!

I've seen a few houses that put out a little library.  It's a little book cabinet with glass doors, and it sits on top of a post by the sidewalk kind of like a mail box.  I think people can add and take books as they want.

Most of them are registered through https://littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/!

Luke Warm

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2021, 12:02:14 PM »
we've got poop bag dispensers in the local neighborhood parks. we used to use plastic grocery bags but now i use the ones provided. i'm amazed at how many people place their full poop bags on the curb, like someone comes around and collects them. i also have been scolded for putting a poop bag in someone's garbage can.

Morning Glory

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2021, 12:19:50 PM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

. I am totally fine with people putting bagged poop and other small items in my trash can. We don't normally fill it anyway.

TrMama

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2021, 12:26:47 PM »
Toy libraries.

Quebec City has a couple and they're freaking amazing. For $30/year you can borrow 3 toys for your kid for 2-3 weeks. You kid gets "new" toys all the time which keeps their interest and just as the toy becomes less interesting and starts to turn into clutter, you take it back and swap it for a different one. A couple times my child was really, really interested in a particular toy and we ended up borrowing it regularly. For those ones, I could confidently just buy one of our own knowing she'd get lots of use from it.

A tool library sounds fantastic as well. I've sometimes rent tools from Home Depot, but the selection is limited and if you need the thing for more than a day, the cost is kind of high relative to the value of the tool.

Morning Glory

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2021, 12:37:10 PM »
My university has a basket of pads and tampons in each restroom for anyone who needs them. Nobody seems to abuse this system.

We have tons of the little free libraries around town too. Those are fun. Toy/tool libraries sound amazing. I don't know of any around here.

GuitarStv

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2021, 01:06:25 PM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

They must be related to the folks who bag dog poop in the park and then tie it to a tree branch.

Chris22

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2021, 08:44:57 AM »
we've got poop bag dispensers in the local neighborhood parks. we used to use plastic grocery bags but now i use the ones provided. i'm amazed at how many people place their full poop bags on the curb, like someone comes around and collects them. i also have been scolded for putting a poop bag in someone's garbage can.

My etiquette, totally made up by me:

-poop in trash can on curb before garbage day OK
-poop in trash can by someone’s house not out on curb not OK

I had a small dog with small turds so carrying it in my pocket was no big deal. If you have a mastiff I can see how you don’t want to carry around a dildo-sized log.

norajean

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2021, 08:52:46 AM »
Eventually  someone will forget to fill the poop bag dispensers before a long holiday weekend and there will be chaos.  People won’t forget the drama and when dispensers are refilled they will start to hoard and empty dispensers will reappear due to the higher demand.

iris lily

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2021, 09:05:23 PM »
My neighborhood spends $1500 annually on dog poop bags  for our neighborhood Park. To my mind that’s the least of it because someone has to order the bags, store them at their house, and every week go fill all the containers.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2021, 10:08:09 AM by iris lily »

OzzieandHarriet

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2021, 07:34:45 AM »
Our trash people do not collect the little bags of poop that dog walkers toss into our trash cans. They only take the large tied-up bags of trash, leaving the poop behind to fester until we clean it up.

Morning Glory

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2021, 08:04:35 AM »
Our trash people do not collect the little bags of poop that dog walkers toss into our trash cans. They only take the large tied-up bags of trash, leaving the poop behind to fester until we clean it up.

Weird. The trucks here have a mechanical arm and just dump the whole can in. Nobody has to get out of the truck.

Hotstreak

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2021, 02:35:19 PM »

What other goods do we think of as scarce that could actually cheaply and realistically be made abundant, making the world a better place in the process?


A few more examples: free soap and toilet paper in bathrooms, free facemasks when you enter a building, free water via drinking fountains.


A few suggestions: Public wifi, sunscreen dispensers, open air showers.

OzzieandHarriet

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #17 on: March 27, 2021, 03:02:17 PM »
Our trash people do not collect the little bags of poop that dog walkers toss into our trash cans. They only take the large tied-up bags of trash, leaving the poop behind to fester until we clean it up.

Weird. The trucks here have a mechanical arm and just dump the whole can in. Nobody has to get out of the truck.

In our county everyone has to buy their own trash cans, so the trucks can’t do that. The trash people just open the cans and lift out the bags one by one. Any little individual items (like bags of dog poop) get left behind.

Dicey

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #18 on: March 28, 2021, 12:45:42 PM »
When we're walking our dogs, we tie the bags with a slip knot and hook it to their collars where the leash clips on, so the dogs literally carry their own poop. It doesn't bother them a bit. We use small bags, so there's not a bunch of plastic flopping around. When we get home, it goes in our own trash can. One park nearby has a designated poop can, so we also use that when we're there. Easy-peasy.

partgypsy

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #19 on: March 28, 2021, 01:13:52 PM »
What is annoying, is that I was walking with my friend who has 2 dogs. Between the two of them they pooped a record 4 times, so we were out of bags for the 4th. No problem, we were right next to a park that had poop bag dispensers (I remember because I had used them before). Well, while the trashcans are still there, the poop bag dispensers are gone.  I don't understand the reasoning. A ton of people still walk their dogs in that area. Did they think with Covid dogs stopped pooping? anyways friend fished a piece of trash out of the trashcan to use instea.

centwise

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #20 on: March 28, 2021, 01:34:31 PM »
Our trash people do not collect the little bags of poop that dog walkers toss into our trash cans. They only take the large tied-up bags of trash, leaving the poop behind to fester until we clean it up.

EXACTLY the same in my neighbourhood. I hate the people who constantly drop bags of poop into my trash can in the alley. The trash collectors take the lid off the can, grab the big black trash bags... and leave the little poop bags in there, on the bottom.

So guess who has to reach in, take it out, and dispose of it??! Me of course.

And to make it even worse, if those poop-bag wielders were to walk three houses down the alley and 20 m to the left, they would find an actual city-operated dog-poop disposal can (with a free poop-bag dispenser).  /endrant
« Last Edit: March 28, 2021, 01:37:10 PM by centwise »

Luke Warm

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #21 on: March 30, 2021, 08:37:20 AM »
What is annoying, is that I was walking with my friend who has 2 dogs. Between the two of them they pooped a record 4 times, so we were out of bags for the 4th. No problem, we were right next to a park that had poop bag dispensers (I remember because I had used them before). Well, while the trashcans are still there, the poop bag dispensers are gone.  I don't understand the reasoning. A ton of people still walk their dogs in that area. Did they think with Covid dogs stopped pooping? anyways friend fished a piece of trash out of the trashcan to use instea.

when our dog poops more than once, he's poopasaurus. any more than that he's a poopasaurus rex.

BlueHouse

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #22 on: April 21, 2021, 07:06:33 AM »
Bicycles.

There should be bicycles everywhere.  I do belong to a bikeshare, so they're almost everywhere.  But there a few places where they aren't and I really miss them there.  Where I used to work didn't have any bikeshare docks, so I couldn't take one to work.  If I took a dockless bike there, it would be gone when I got out and then I'd be stuck. 


sui generis

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #23 on: April 21, 2021, 09:26:54 AM »
Great question!

Every now and again, we buy a book that the library won't buy for us. I'd love to see some system for a neighborhood or town book swap. Someone should build an app for that!

This isn't as systematic as you're picturing, but my neighborhood Buy Nothing group definitely does this. Not only with books, but with puzzles and sometimes board games.  Also there's a round robin for clothes (they do separate ones by clothing size) for adults and kids, so someone gets the bag of clothes, takes some for themselves, adds some of their own to pass on, then passes the bag to the next person.

I really love our tool libraries.  They are run by our actual librarians and attached to the book library and also include kitchen appliances.  Really, really useful.

Jesstache

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #24 on: April 21, 2021, 10:14:27 AM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

They must be related to the folks who bag dog poop in the park and then tie it to a tree branch.

They could be like my city and have plenty of dog poop bag dispensers around... with no trash cans to actually dispose of the poop in.  People complain constantly about the bags of poo laying on the ground next to the walking path and the solution is so obvious... TRASH CANS that get emptied regularly.  The lack of forethought is incredible.  I also tie my dog's poo bag to his leash so I don't have to carry/smell it so much for miles but I do still get a whiff pretty regularly afterwards as he's large dog with large poo.  Seriously though, TRASH CANS. 

Brought to you by the same city that has lots of pretty nice parks for kids, with zero bathrooms or port-a-potties. 

Luke Warm

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #25 on: April 24, 2021, 07:51:13 AM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

They must be related to the folks who bag dog poop in the park and then tie it to a tree branch.

They could be like my city and have plenty of dog poop bag dispensers around... with no trash cans to actually dispose of the poop in.  People complain constantly about the bags of poo laying on the ground next to the walking path and the solution is so obvious... TRASH CANS that get emptied regularly.  The lack of forethought is incredible.  I also tie my dog's poo bag to his leash so I don't have to carry/smell it so much for miles but I do still get a whiff pretty regularly afterwards as he's large dog with large poo.  Seriously though, TRASH CANS. 

Brought to you by the same city that has lots of pretty nice parks for kids, with zero bathrooms or port-a-potties.

poop bags for people?

LennStar

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #26 on: May 12, 2021, 04:51:37 AM »
A lot of stuff. But that would be bad for the economy and of course SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM!

And that is not even speaking about real socialism, like taking 10 private backyards and turning them into a public park where those 10 households and other people cant use them.

former player

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #27 on: May 12, 2021, 05:13:10 AM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

They must be related to the folks who bag dog poop in the park and then tie it to a tree branch.

They could be like my city and have plenty of dog poop bag dispensers around... with no trash cans to actually dispose of the poop in.  People complain constantly about the bags of poo laying on the ground next to the walking path and the solution is so obvious... TRASH CANS that get emptied regularly.  The lack of forethought is incredible.  I also tie my dog's poo bag to his leash so I don't have to carry/smell it so much for miles but I do still get a whiff pretty regularly afterwards as he's large dog with large poo.  Seriously though, TRASH CANS. 

Brought to you by the same city that has lots of pretty nice parks for kids, with zero bathrooms or port-a-potties.
Trash cans are surprisingly expensive to run, because you need to employ someone to empty them regularly, using a vehicle dedicated to trash pick-up, and then take the contents to a waste disposal place and pay for the disposal.  If you are a small authority with just one or two cans it is prohibitive, and if you are a larger authority with a lot of cans it also gets expensive.  The other thing is that it can be more expensive to pay to dispose of waste from a public trash can because it is commercial waste, whereas if everyone takes their poop bag home then it is domestic waste and cheaper to dispose of.

(Knowledge acquired during my recent stint as a parish councillor where dog poop disposal is a constant concern.)

Interestingly I think people have got better at taking their used dog poop bags away with them over the last year of lockdown: my local beach no longer grows a pile of the things by the entrance.  Not sure what the psychology of that is, but I'm grateful for it.

FindingFI

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #28 on: May 12, 2021, 07:07:55 AM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

The only possible explanation I can think of, and have admittedly done, is the dog poos on the way out on a there-and-back walk. So I have bagged the poo, so no one else steps in it and left it there until I passed by again on the way back, perhaps 20-30 minutes later, and then picked up the bag and disposed of it when I got home instead of carrying a bag of poo the entire time. 

Morning Glory

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #29 on: May 12, 2021, 08:11:07 PM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

The only possible explanation I can think of, and have admittedly done, is the dog poos on the way out on a there-and-back walk. So I have bagged the poo, so no one else steps in it and left it there until I passed by again on the way back, perhaps 20-30 minutes later, and then picked up the bag and disposed of it when I got home instead of carrying a bag of poo the entire time.

You know I had to do that recently because the bag ripped and I didn't have another one to put it in.  I had never thought of that contingency before. I apologize for being judgmental.

rocketpj

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #30 on: May 16, 2021, 11:50:46 PM »
I live in a nightmarish socialist dystopia where the municipal government provides dog poop garbage cans and bag dispensers pretty much everywhere you'd want to walk your dog.  It works, few people leave their dog turds anywhere but in the appropriate place.  AFAIK the poop goes to the compost facility and gets turned into soil.

We also have a couple of 'leave a book take a book' mini library things in our neighbourhood that I have happily put tons of books into and has kept me in novels as well.

Of course being a socialist hellscape we also have public health care.  When I want or need medical care I just get it, as do all my friends and family.  The price for this nightmarish scenario is that we spend less per capita than other places for better outcomes.  Shrug.


rocketpj

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #31 on: May 16, 2021, 11:53:04 PM »
Eventually  someone will forget to fill the poop bag dispensers before a long holiday weekend and there will be chaos.  People won’t forget the drama and when dispensers are refilled they will start to hoard and empty dispensers will reappear due to the higher demand.

Hasn't been my experience in this neighbourhood, which has tons of dogs and dispensers.  If the dispenser is empty I walk a block to the next one.  I always keep a couple tied to the leash.  Seems to work, probably because this isn't 'just in time' delivery.

FindingFI

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #32 on: May 17, 2021, 06:07:36 AM »
My biggest annoyance is the dog walkers who bag the poop and then leave the full bag lying on the ground. The poop breaks down a lot faster if it's not in a bag. I really don't understand why they would bother to bag it and then do that

The only possible explanation I can think of, and have admittedly done, is the dog poos on the way out on a there-and-back walk. So I have bagged the poo, so no one else steps in it and left it there until I passed by again on the way back, perhaps 20-30 minutes later, and then picked up the bag and disposed of it when I got home instead of carrying a bag of poo the entire time.

You know I had to do that recently because the bag ripped and I didn't have another one to put it in.  I had never thought of that contingency before. I apologize for being judgmental.

Sometimes stuff happens, but if there are people out there just bagging it and and leaving it behind permanently, that is ridiculous.

Missy B

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Re: My Neighborhood Economy of Dog Poop Bags
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2021, 12:29:41 PM »
I live in a nightmarish socialist dystopia where the municipal government provides dog poop garbage cans and bag dispensers pretty much everywhere you'd want to walk your dog.  It works, few people leave their dog turds anywhere but in the appropriate place.  AFAIK the poop goes to the compost facility and gets turned into soil.

We also have a couple of 'leave a book take a book' mini library things in our neighbourhood that I have happily put tons of books into and has kept me in novels as well.

Of course being a socialist hellscape we also have public health care.  When I want or need medical care I just get it, as do all my friends and family.  The price for this nightmarish scenario is that we spend less per capita than other places for better outcomes.  Shrug.
I live in a similar dystopian hell. Recently, during a discussion with a member of a forward-thinking, anti-socialist utopia who earns the same yearly income as I, I learned that I pay *less* taxes than they! And that is *before* they have paid their medical premiums. They have so much less disposable income than i do. How can that be?
I was shocked. It shook my faith.
And then I remembered: neither of us is rich. Their system is working as intended, so all is well.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!