Our waterways are in peril due to climate change, loss of habitat, plastic waste, and pollution (among other risks).  When it comes to pollution, well-known dangers to our waters are fertilizers, medications, and factory waste. A less discussed, but bona fide hazard, is one posed by pet poop. You read that right — the feces of companion animals contaminates our waterways.

On average, dogs eliminate about 12 ounces of excrement each day (someone measured); the larger the dog, the more it defecates. With approximately 90 million dogs in the U.S., that’s 33.75 tons per day of poop — about the weight of 10 hippos!

Dogs eliminate on streets, sidewalks, trails, fields, and in yards, leaving feces teeming with bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens. Unless that waste is picked up, the rain and snow wash over those toxic turds, sending them on a path that almost inevitably reaches local waterways (and beyond).

Waters choke with pollution, wildlife is threatened, habitats are wiped out, food sources are spoiled, and the entire ecological system suffers from bacteria causing disease and nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizing algae. As the water evaporates, the harmful elements get into our lungs and become part of the water cycle, raining on forests, crops, and previously unpolluted waters.

Poop scooping is often mandated by municipalities and civic associations, but the efforts of eco-conscious (or forced) dog owners ladling droppings into biodegradable bags isn’t the best way to go. Bagging up turds just transfers the pollution problem to the landfill — once that bag degrades, the rain or snow will propel it along the contamination path.

So what’s the best way to keep hippo-sized and noxious feces from hurdling towards lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans?  Taking poop bags home and flushing them down the toilet! We admit that it seems self-defeating (and more than slightly confusing) to make your dog go outside and then bring what he or she does in again, but flushed material becomes treated sewage, which is preferable to raw runoff.

If you’re really opposed to regularly scraping your grass free of feces or bringing the poop home in the car after a ride to a dog park, look for other solutions. Carry non-degradable bags that don’t emit greenhouse gasses (check with the manufacturer), ask your municipality about installing dog waste digesters, or hire a farmer or enterprising business that collects and composts residential manure. Whether you clean up your backyard or employ a service, don’t do it on a schedule — blitz the backyard of poop when you hear that there’s rain in the forecast.

Although strolls by the water and runs along the beach are lots of fun with our canine companions alongside, dog owners should stay a distance from docks, coastlines, and storm drains. That gives you the opportunity to pick up the poop before it gets into the water.

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