Dog Poop Trash Can Etiquette
October 11, 2023 10:36 PM
What kind of Visigoth leaves a bag of poop ON TOP OF A STRANGERS GARBAGE CAN
I feel like I already know the answer to this question but I might be blinded by my own annoyance:
My garbage/recycling/yard waste cans are picked up every week.
Not quite every week, but often enough that it seems like a “thing” I go out to collect the cans and find a “present” of a bag of presumably dog poop on top of my garbage can.
Is this supposed to be more polite than tossing the bag into my empty can? Why do this/these dog owners find it so difficult to carry their poop bags back to their domiciles?
If you do this, WHY?
I feel like I already know the answer to this question but I might be blinded by my own annoyance:
My garbage/recycling/yard waste cans are picked up every week.
Not quite every week, but often enough that it seems like a “thing” I go out to collect the cans and find a “present” of a bag of presumably dog poop on top of my garbage can.
Is this supposed to be more polite than tossing the bag into my empty can? Why do this/these dog owners find it so difficult to carry their poop bags back to their domiciles?
If you do this, WHY?
In my neighborhood, dog walkers do this intending to pick it up again in the way home. It’s almost always temporary - just a way for them not to have to carry a bag of poop for 20 or 30 minutes.
Your neighborhood may vary.
posted by anastasiav at 11:03 PM on October 11, 2023
Your neighborhood may vary.
posted by anastasiav at 11:03 PM on October 11, 2023
Can't answer your question but I've had this happen to me rarely on the nights before trash pickup, when I put out the cans. I keep a dog, as well. I just don't get it, but it is rare enough that I don't think it is some personal statement aimed my way.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:17 PM on October 11, 2023
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:17 PM on October 11, 2023
Some people have really strange habits when it comes to dog-poop bags.
There's a little pathway through my land which is popular among dog walkers during holidays. Ever so often, I find filled poop bags along the path. It drives me crazy, not least because for some irrational reason, I hate other people's poop-bags. I don't mind using them for my own dog. Do people think it is better to leave poop wrapped in plastic in nature than unwrapped poop? Why? Do they know nothing? And yeah, I get the bags on top of my trash container too.
I've thought of making a little cartoon and put it up on the entry gates, where people can see how to handle poop. But it would be a bit much for your purposes.
posted by mumimor at 11:57 PM on October 11, 2023
There's a little pathway through my land which is popular among dog walkers during holidays. Ever so often, I find filled poop bags along the path. It drives me crazy, not least because for some irrational reason, I hate other people's poop-bags. I don't mind using them for my own dog. Do people think it is better to leave poop wrapped in plastic in nature than unwrapped poop? Why? Do they know nothing? And yeah, I get the bags on top of my trash container too.
I've thought of making a little cartoon and put it up on the entry gates, where people can see how to handle poop. But it would be a bit much for your purposes.
posted by mumimor at 11:57 PM on October 11, 2023
Putting them IN the can is a problem in my neighborhood and I was being “gifted” every week until I busted the culprit. I staked out my can and caught her dropping it in. I immediately threw open the door and yelled, “do you need another bag to TAKE THAT TO YOUR CAN?” She was mortified, almost fell into the empty can trying to retrieve it and literally ran down the street flinging apologies behind her. Haven’t had another gift in a while. It will happen but not from this neighbor.
posted by pearlybob at 3:15 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by pearlybob at 3:15 AM on October 12, 2023
I would never leave a dog poop bag anywhere, but having lived in a place that regularly tipped 100 degrees in the summertime, I appreciate people who, if they must, leave their bags on top of the can rather than inside of it.
There’s nothing worse — NOTHING — than tossing your own bag of garbage into your can and hearing the sound of a dog poop bag exploding at the bottom! Now you have to make the Sophie’s Choice of fishing out everything from inside the can so that you can hose it out with bleach OR leaving that disgusting, smelly chore for later (or even never) and instead deal with the resulting maggots on top of the dog poop and garbage.
If the inconsiderate/lazy person puts the dog poop bag on top, at least you can fortify the bag with something else before tossing it in the can so that it doesn’t explode.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 3:19 AM on October 12, 2023
There’s nothing worse — NOTHING — than tossing your own bag of garbage into your can and hearing the sound of a dog poop bag exploding at the bottom! Now you have to make the Sophie’s Choice of fishing out everything from inside the can so that you can hose it out with bleach OR leaving that disgusting, smelly chore for later (or even never) and instead deal with the resulting maggots on top of the dog poop and garbage.
If the inconsiderate/lazy person puts the dog poop bag on top, at least you can fortify the bag with something else before tossing it in the can so that it doesn’t explode.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 3:19 AM on October 12, 2023
Does your garbage company use a "claw" to empty the cans (example)?
The dogwalker may be thinking that your can hasn't been emptied yet, since the lid is closed. So placing the bag on top will get it a free ride into the truck without stinking up the inside of your can.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:17 AM on October 12, 2023
The dogwalker may be thinking that your can hasn't been emptied yet, since the lid is closed. So placing the bag on top will get it a free ride into the truck without stinking up the inside of your can.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:17 AM on October 12, 2023
You will not hear from the people who actually do this because they have NO SHAME.
(For the record, this is so incredibly rude and disgusting. Had it happen to me, in the can and on top, and I was flummoxed how anyone could think this was acceptable. But they have NO SHAME)
posted by AbelMelveny at 4:20 AM on October 12, 2023
(For the record, this is so incredibly rude and disgusting. Had it happen to me, in the can and on top, and I was flummoxed how anyone could think this was acceptable. But they have NO SHAME)
posted by AbelMelveny at 4:20 AM on October 12, 2023
I've seen this debate in other forums and some believe that the cans belong to the waste disposal company, not the homeowner, and since waste is charged by the can it's ethically okay to add something to a can waiting for pickup once it's on the curb. Kind of like the opposite of garbage picking.
The other side of the debate is like above - it makes a mess at times and it's lazy to do this as opposed to taking it home and putting it in your own can.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:27 AM on October 12, 2023
The other side of the debate is like above - it makes a mess at times and it's lazy to do this as opposed to taking it home and putting it in your own can.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:27 AM on October 12, 2023
Yeah, I think it was here there was a thread about how some people REALLY DO NOT LIKE strangers putting stuff in their trashcans, poop or no. I think those people are cousins of the "do not park in front of my house!" people.
posted by rhizome at 4:36 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by rhizome at 4:36 AM on October 12, 2023
There are plenty of people who believe "It Ain't Littering if it Ain't touching the Ground".
I'm just glad they only put beer cans in my bike bags and not poop.
posted by Tunierikson at 4:45 AM on October 12, 2023
I'm just glad they only put beer cans in my bike bags and not poop.
posted by Tunierikson at 4:45 AM on October 12, 2023
Like LuckySeven~, if someone feels they MUST give me a bag of shit I would prefer that they put it on top of the trash can rather than in it; where I live, we're required to use at least kitchen-size bags for all trash, and I don't want to a) reach down and retrieve the poop bag from the bottom of the barrel so I can put it in a bag; b) have the poop bag remain in the bottom of the trash can indefinitely because the collectors only take the properly-bagged trash; or c) get a ticket for not properly bagging my (someone else's) trash (dogshit).
People's treatment of poop bags and dog poop in general is deeply confusing to me.
posted by mskyle at 5:07 AM on October 12, 2023
People's treatment of poop bags and dog poop in general is deeply confusing to me.
posted by mskyle at 5:07 AM on October 12, 2023
I can't answer why people leave it on top of the cans, but I am That Jerk who will leave it in a can at the curb if I know the trash is scheduled to be picked up that day. I do it because I don't want to carry the poop around. I know it's wrong but the harm seems negligible. (Putting it in a can where it will fester for more than a couple hours; I see the harm in that.)
(I once had a neighbor who installed a portapotty ON THE SIDEWALK for several months while construction was done on their house. I confess to having no issues filling their trash can with poop any day of the week, since they were being so unneighborly. So maybe it's intended to be a statement?)
posted by metasarah at 5:10 AM on October 12, 2023
(I once had a neighbor who installed a portapotty ON THE SIDEWALK for several months while construction was done on their house. I confess to having no issues filling their trash can with poop any day of the week, since they were being so unneighborly. So maybe it's intended to be a statement?)
posted by metasarah at 5:10 AM on October 12, 2023
I live in Chicago, we have an incredible alley system, our streets and sanitation workers are some of the best city employees we have.
All trash goes into the trash cans, but the cans belong to the people. Especially if you're on the T of an alley.
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 AM on October 12, 2023
All trash goes into the trash cans, but the cans belong to the people. Especially if you're on the T of an alley.
posted by phunniemee at 5:23 AM on October 12, 2023
At least some of the people doing this are some form of germaphobe. They want to dispose of the waste but don't want to touch a "dirty" garbage can lid. Irrational and rude but true.
some believe that the cans belong to the waste disposal company, not the homeowner
My municipality is very clear that the bin they supply, we have to use theirs, belongs to them to the point that our yearly fee based on the size of the bin is a charge for pick up only and not a bin rental fee or lease.
posted by Mitheral at 5:52 AM on October 12, 2023
some believe that the cans belong to the waste disposal company, not the homeowner
My municipality is very clear that the bin they supply, we have to use theirs, belongs to them to the point that our yearly fee based on the size of the bin is a charge for pick up only and not a bin rental fee or lease.
posted by Mitheral at 5:52 AM on October 12, 2023
In NYC we leave bagged trash, not cans, out for collection; sometimes on the nights/mornings when bags are out and about to be collected, I will insert our bag of poop in one that’s already partially open—in other words, won’t untie or rip a well-sealed garbage bag in order to do so. This feels like a fairly victimless action.
There are some buildings in the neighborhood that store their cans accessibly to the sidewalk during the week; we’re pretty religious about never using these, but I know a lot of people do and it must be a constant annoyance for the residents. Thankfully our cans are behind a gate.
We also have municipal compost pickup and if we don’t rush to bring the can back from the curb immediately after it gets emptied (and left with the lid open), there will inevitably be at least one doggie treasure deposited at the bottom. This one really gets me because A) it’s a huge receptacle B) that’s obviously just been emptied, C) often with gross water already sitting at the bottom, and D) poop is not compostable.
As for our usual poop disposition, there are public wastebaskets at about 10% of the intersections near us, so we tend to plan walks around their location or go a block or two out of the way post-business to avail ourselves of them. Bringing it home to sit in our own trash cans for several days is a last resort (though sadly we’re the only ones in our building who feel this way).
posted by staggernation at 6:00 AM on October 12, 2023
There are some buildings in the neighborhood that store their cans accessibly to the sidewalk during the week; we’re pretty religious about never using these, but I know a lot of people do and it must be a constant annoyance for the residents. Thankfully our cans are behind a gate.
We also have municipal compost pickup and if we don’t rush to bring the can back from the curb immediately after it gets emptied (and left with the lid open), there will inevitably be at least one doggie treasure deposited at the bottom. This one really gets me because A) it’s a huge receptacle B) that’s obviously just been emptied, C) often with gross water already sitting at the bottom, and D) poop is not compostable.
As for our usual poop disposition, there are public wastebaskets at about 10% of the intersections near us, so we tend to plan walks around their location or go a block or two out of the way post-business to avail ourselves of them. Bringing it home to sit in our own trash cans for several days is a last resort (though sadly we’re the only ones in our building who feel this way).
posted by staggernation at 6:00 AM on October 12, 2023
I used to toss my tied-off dog poop bags in other bins (owned by the township) if the bins were already at the curb for garbage day and if they weren't collected yet but people have become so vocal about this over the last few years I stopped.
I would love if dog owners would pull together and make some sort of paw print sticker for our bins that lets other dog owners know that this bin is already of poop, so drop your tied bag in here. (You have my permission to take this idea and run with it as long as you put a little black doggie on the sticker in honor of my own little inky-black poop machine.)
On top of the lid is rude and gross. Nobody should do that.
posted by kimberussell at 6:10 AM on October 12, 2023
I would love if dog owners would pull together and make some sort of paw print sticker for our bins that lets other dog owners know that this bin is already of poop, so drop your tied bag in here. (You have my permission to take this idea and run with it as long as you put a little black doggie on the sticker in honor of my own little inky-black poop machine.)
On top of the lid is rude and gross. Nobody should do that.
posted by kimberussell at 6:10 AM on October 12, 2023
Like Staggernation, I'm also in NYC - and I suspect that the 20% rate of trash cans at intersections is an OPTIMISTIC estimate. For some unknown reason the street trash bins have been getting harder and harder to find.
So I think the thought process of the person with the dog poop is:
"Okay, I've bagged up the poop. Now I just need to throw it away....WTF, where are all the street trash bins? I've walked about ten blocks now and there's not a SINGLE god-damn street trash bin?.....Oh, shit, we've gotta get going, I have to throw this away somehow - fuck it, just leave it here."
Yeah, it's a dick move to leave it on top of a building's trash bin, but honestly, I think the real source of the problem is that there aren't anywhere NEAR as many public trash bins as there used to be or as there needs to be. If there were more trash bins on the sidewalks and on the corners, people would be more likely to leave the poop bags inside those.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:12 AM on October 12, 2023
So I think the thought process of the person with the dog poop is:
"Okay, I've bagged up the poop. Now I just need to throw it away....WTF, where are all the street trash bins? I've walked about ten blocks now and there's not a SINGLE god-damn street trash bin?.....Oh, shit, we've gotta get going, I have to throw this away somehow - fuck it, just leave it here."
Yeah, it's a dick move to leave it on top of a building's trash bin, but honestly, I think the real source of the problem is that there aren't anywhere NEAR as many public trash bins as there used to be or as there needs to be. If there were more trash bins on the sidewalks and on the corners, people would be more likely to leave the poop bags inside those.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:12 AM on October 12, 2023
Is this supposed to be more polite than tossing the bag into my empty can? Why do this/these dog owners find it so difficult to carry their poop bags back to their domiciles?
It's my experience that despite owning a dog that needs poop, many dog owners will do anything to avoid actually having to deal with the poop. Whether this is letting them poop on other people's lawns or bagging the poop and leaving it somewhere to be picked up "later" so they don't have to carry around a bag of warm dogshit with them. It doesn't matter what their reasoning is, it's just selfishness.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:14 AM on October 12, 2023
It's my experience that despite owning a dog that needs poop, many dog owners will do anything to avoid actually having to deal with the poop. Whether this is letting them poop on other people's lawns or bagging the poop and leaving it somewhere to be picked up "later" so they don't have to carry around a bag of warm dogshit with them. It doesn't matter what their reasoning is, it's just selfishness.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:14 AM on October 12, 2023
I've had people drop their dog poop bags into my empty garbage can that was sitting on the curb waiting for me to retrieve it. Since I'm not in the habit of peering into my empty garbage can, I didn't realize there was a bag of poop in there when I tossed my own garbage on top. The poop bag stuck to the bottom and didn't come out when the garbage was dumped. I was then obligated to clean someone's dog poop out of my garbage can. Not cool.
I don't know why some dog owners think it's acceptable to leave poop bags wherever they feel like, but it's never acceptable. There's a lot of poop bags left on walking trails around here that no one ever intended to pick up on the way out, and far too many halfheartedly tossed into the woods, like that makes it better. My town sends out a newsletter with the quarterly water/sewer bills, and one of the blurbs in a recent one addressed this issue, reminding dog owners to clean up after their dogs and take the poop back to their own garbage cans. So it's not just me getting all "get off my lawn" about it. When my kid was in diapers I wouldn't leave a dirty diaper lying around for someone else to deal with.
posted by mollweide at 6:37 AM on October 12, 2023
I don't know why some dog owners think it's acceptable to leave poop bags wherever they feel like, but it's never acceptable. There's a lot of poop bags left on walking trails around here that no one ever intended to pick up on the way out, and far too many halfheartedly tossed into the woods, like that makes it better. My town sends out a newsletter with the quarterly water/sewer bills, and one of the blurbs in a recent one addressed this issue, reminding dog owners to clean up after their dogs and take the poop back to their own garbage cans. So it's not just me getting all "get off my lawn" about it. When my kid was in diapers I wouldn't leave a dirty diaper lying around for someone else to deal with.
posted by mollweide at 6:37 AM on October 12, 2023
At least in our municipality, the garbage collectors will not take anything out of the bins that hasn't been placed in a real garbage bag. So I can see how leaving the poop bag on top of the bin is sort of less bad. At least that way I'm not having to scrape the crushed poop off of the bottom of the can or deal with stagnant poop water when it rains after the collection.
But placed against that is the fact that it's an even more blatant version of a complete stranger deciding that their dog's crap is a problem that I should deal with because it's just too inconvenient for them, which is a really shitty attitude.
posted by firechicago at 6:41 AM on October 12, 2023
But placed against that is the fact that it's an even more blatant version of a complete stranger deciding that their dog's crap is a problem that I should deal with because it's just too inconvenient for them, which is a really shitty attitude.
posted by firechicago at 6:41 AM on October 12, 2023
I suspect that the 20% rate of trash cans at intersections is an OPTIMISTIC estimate
Heh, upon reflection I had already abused the edit window to make it 10% :)
posted by staggernation at 6:41 AM on October 12, 2023
Heh, upon reflection I had already abused the edit window to make it 10% :)
posted by staggernation at 6:41 AM on October 12, 2023
I encourage you to consider that this might not be malice. I often pick up rando poop when I'm out and about (I have a dog and always have spare poo bags with me). If a bin is full, or I can't open it, I'll leave the bagged poo on the bin rather than leaving it smeared on the ground.
I also will never understand commenters who are angry that strangers have the apaprent temerity to put bagged dog poo, or really any rubbish, in their garbage bins. It's... a bin. If I pick up windblown rubbish or any other refuse outside of a bin that's near a bin, I'm going to put it in the bin. I'm not going to leave it outside to tumbleweed about. The one time in my life someone chastised me for this all I could do was laugh... instead of dropping the rubbish in the bin, rubbish that i assumed had fallen out of the bin, I just dropped it on the person's yard where I'd picked it up. I guess that's better?
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 7:13 AM on October 12, 2023
I also will never understand commenters who are angry that strangers have the apaprent temerity to put bagged dog poo, or really any rubbish, in their garbage bins. It's... a bin. If I pick up windblown rubbish or any other refuse outside of a bin that's near a bin, I'm going to put it in the bin. I'm not going to leave it outside to tumbleweed about. The one time in my life someone chastised me for this all I could do was laugh... instead of dropping the rubbish in the bin, rubbish that i assumed had fallen out of the bin, I just dropped it on the person's yard where I'd picked it up. I guess that's better?
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 7:13 AM on October 12, 2023
Some people keep their trash bins in their garage because they have no other place for them. So when someone puts their dog shit in our bin on Monday morning after the garbage truck has come but before I get home to move the bins inside, that dog shit will be in my bin, in my garage, below my living room, for a whole week - stinking up the place. I'm sorry if you are too lazy to carry home your dog shit, or too inconsiderate to imagine the possible effects of your dog shit on someone else's home, but I will never be calm about someone placing dog shit in my empty bins.
As for the original question - what kind of person? - the answer is pretty clear: lazy, inconsiderate people. People who will do all sorts of mental gymnastics to justify their own laziness and inconsiderate behavior.
One other thing - the whole "I'm leaving this poo bag here to pick up on my return trip" is COMPLETE HORSESHIT and it's just a species of the mental gymnastics lazy and inconsiderate people would rather perform than just deal with their shit. It's already in a bag! Tie it to your leash or put it in your pocket!
posted by niicholas at 7:33 AM on October 12, 2023
As for the original question - what kind of person? - the answer is pretty clear: lazy, inconsiderate people. People who will do all sorts of mental gymnastics to justify their own laziness and inconsiderate behavior.
One other thing - the whole "I'm leaving this poo bag here to pick up on my return trip" is COMPLETE HORSESHIT and it's just a species of the mental gymnastics lazy and inconsiderate people would rather perform than just deal with their shit. It's already in a bag! Tie it to your leash or put it in your pocket!
posted by niicholas at 7:33 AM on October 12, 2023
i'll remind folks that trash collection is very different depending on municipalities. in many communities (like mine) 'floating' items in a trash can that aren't in the trash bag rarely end up in the garbage truck. which means they are either left in the bottom of your trash can or floating around your curb. when that's a stranger's bag of poop, it's kinda annoying, especially after a car has run over it.
posted by noloveforned at 7:56 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by noloveforned at 7:56 AM on October 12, 2023
In response to the my neighborhood "No Dog Poo" people I installed and maintain one of those big old metal trash cans on the corner of the alley. My neighbor lets me chain it to her fence (one year someone stole it). We have people come by and thank us all the time and one year we got a Christmas card with $20 in it. I will say that there has had to be an increasing list of directions on the lid.
For Dog Poop! 😁
For Dog Poop Only
(that time I found the entire contents of a kitty litter box in there)
Pease Replace Lid
(addition of chain to lid)
Please Tie Knot in Bag
(once the liner broke, now use stronger ones.)
Periodically I do find a bag o' poo sitting on the lid, don't know why that happens either. I think, from my experience with the dog poop can, people just use the surface layer of their minds to solve their immediate problem and just don't think it through. (probably the people who walk the neighborhood talking loudly on their cel phones, my pet peeve)
Now I need help coming up with a pithy line to convey that the can is specifically for the dog walker so they don't have to carry a poop bag for miles not for people to clean an entire weeks worth of crap from their back yard and bring it down to me. Anyone?
(the can fills up every week, sometime it can weigh 50#)
posted by BoscosMom at 8:03 AM on October 12, 2023
For Dog Poop! 😁
For Dog Poop Only
(that time I found the entire contents of a kitty litter box in there)
Pease Replace Lid
(addition of chain to lid)
Please Tie Knot in Bag
(once the liner broke, now use stronger ones.)
Periodically I do find a bag o' poo sitting on the lid, don't know why that happens either. I think, from my experience with the dog poop can, people just use the surface layer of their minds to solve their immediate problem and just don't think it through. (probably the people who walk the neighborhood talking loudly on their cel phones, my pet peeve)
Now I need help coming up with a pithy line to convey that the can is specifically for the dog walker so they don't have to carry a poop bag for miles not for people to clean an entire weeks worth of crap from their back yard and bring it down to me. Anyone?
(the can fills up every week, sometime it can weigh 50#)
posted by BoscosMom at 8:03 AM on October 12, 2023
My experience in metro Boston matches that of firechicago's - the trash collectors would not take anything out of our bins that wasn't in an actual true garbage bag, and *we* would get fined for it, previous Ask.
Unfortunately, we were the first house off the local greenway, maybe a block away from the dog park, so we got a lot of other peoples' dog poop. Sometimes on top, but frequently tossed in the bottom where they would explode at some point, whether on impact from the initial toss, or when we put our own trash in our own bin and didn't check/couldn't see that some douche had tossed their dog poop bag in. We complained to the town enough that they installed another public trash bin nearby, but it didn't always deter people who just assumed "trash bins are for everybody."
posted by Pandora Kouti at 9:08 AM on October 12, 2023
Unfortunately, we were the first house off the local greenway, maybe a block away from the dog park, so we got a lot of other peoples' dog poop. Sometimes on top, but frequently tossed in the bottom where they would explode at some point, whether on impact from the initial toss, or when we put our own trash in our own bin and didn't check/couldn't see that some douche had tossed their dog poop bag in. We complained to the town enough that they installed another public trash bin nearby, but it didn't always deter people who just assumed "trash bins are for everybody."
posted by Pandora Kouti at 9:08 AM on October 12, 2023
The city we used to live in has a Pay as You Throw model of trash pickup, where the garbage collectors would only take trash in bags purchased from the city (they actually take the bags out of the cans by hand and put them in the back of a golf cart and drive them to the parked big truck). Leaving your poop in people's can was so incredibly rude because you knew that we were risking a note from the city on our trash can for your poop if we didn't reach down in there and take it out ourselves.
posted by hydropsyche at 10:32 AM on October 12, 2023
posted by hydropsyche at 10:32 AM on October 12, 2023
I live in an apartment building in a super dense area so I don't have this particular problem but I do encounter bags of dog shit all over the two blocks I regularly walk.
It's sociopaths and math. There are several hundred dogs on those two blocks as well as people from outside those two blocks who walk their dogs through them to get to the park. If a dog does its business twice a day that's 14 poop bags a week. Say three hundred people walk their dogs on my street. That's 4200 bags of poop a week. If just 1-5% of the people are sociopaths that's 42-210 of improperly disposed bags poop a week (mostly though the sociopaths just don't pick up the poop. The people who do and then don't properly discard the bag are baffling to me -"You've done the hard part already! Finish!".
In short, it only takes a few people to make everything shitty for everyone. The city waste cans on our street are also always overflowing with bagged dog shit and the city won't adjust the pickup schedule so even the people who do it right are creating a big mess. I think about dog shit more than I should as a non-dog owner but is kind a problem where i live (which coincidentally is where the poop-n-scoop laws first originated).
posted by srboisvert at 1:09 PM on October 12, 2023
It's sociopaths and math. There are several hundred dogs on those two blocks as well as people from outside those two blocks who walk their dogs through them to get to the park. If a dog does its business twice a day that's 14 poop bags a week. Say three hundred people walk their dogs on my street. That's 4200 bags of poop a week. If just 1-5% of the people are sociopaths that's 42-210 of improperly disposed bags poop a week (mostly though the sociopaths just don't pick up the poop. The people who do and then don't properly discard the bag are baffling to me -"You've done the hard part already! Finish!".
In short, it only takes a few people to make everything shitty for everyone. The city waste cans on our street are also always overflowing with bagged dog shit and the city won't adjust the pickup schedule so even the people who do it right are creating a big mess. I think about dog shit more than I should as a non-dog owner but is kind a problem where i live (which coincidentally is where the poop-n-scoop laws first originated).
posted by srboisvert at 1:09 PM on October 12, 2023
People are funny. One thing I have noticed is people walking down the street with fast food looking around for a trash can, and not seeing one, opening up the box that contains free local newspapers and stuffing their wet food garbage into that. While people are looking. They are, I think, clearly in a fugue state where they think they are doing something much better than littering, but not really remotely aware of what they are doing. What really boggles me is that it's not the same person doing it all the time.
In my neighbourhood sometimes people will throw their dog poop bags into thick brush, as it vanishes from sight and no one can walk there so no one can step on it. But it only vanishes until the leaves fall and then the bushes may be gaily decorated with a dozen varying pretty coloured bags stuck amid the twigs like so many colourful Christmas decorations. It always makes me laugh.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:16 PM on October 12, 2023
In my neighbourhood sometimes people will throw their dog poop bags into thick brush, as it vanishes from sight and no one can walk there so no one can step on it. But it only vanishes until the leaves fall and then the bushes may be gaily decorated with a dozen varying pretty coloured bags stuck amid the twigs like so many colourful Christmas decorations. It always makes me laugh.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:16 PM on October 12, 2023
I also will never understand commenters who are angry that strangers have the apaprent temerity to put bagged dog poo, or really any rubbish, in their garbage bins.
Once again, coming from a place where residential trash bins are for bagged garbage only and the garbage collectors will refuse to take anything that's not bagged, this isn't about some mystical sense of ownership over my bins. It's frustration at the fact that you've just taken a general problem, and rather than solving it by taking the trash to an appropriate receptacle, you've specifically made it my problem by putting it in a place where it's not supposed to be. It's really no different than if you picked up a piece of trash off the street and instead of throwing it away you walked up to me and pressed it into my hands.
And actually I would prefer you leaving it on the lawn to putting it in my bins, because at least that way I don't have to stick my whole upper body into the bin the recover it from the bottom. Even better would be leaving it in the street where at least the street cleaners come through and clean things up every other week, and I'm not going to get fined for it being there.
Dense urban neighborhoods like the one I live in have extensive systems to remove and deal with trash and other waste. If you're getting rid of waste in a way that doesn't engage with those systems, you're not really any better than the people who toss their poo bags into the bushes. You're just moving trash out of sight and hoping some random stranger will deal with it.
posted by firechicago at 3:14 PM on October 12, 2023
Once again, coming from a place where residential trash bins are for bagged garbage only and the garbage collectors will refuse to take anything that's not bagged, this isn't about some mystical sense of ownership over my bins. It's frustration at the fact that you've just taken a general problem, and rather than solving it by taking the trash to an appropriate receptacle, you've specifically made it my problem by putting it in a place where it's not supposed to be. It's really no different than if you picked up a piece of trash off the street and instead of throwing it away you walked up to me and pressed it into my hands.
And actually I would prefer you leaving it on the lawn to putting it in my bins, because at least that way I don't have to stick my whole upper body into the bin the recover it from the bottom. Even better would be leaving it in the street where at least the street cleaners come through and clean things up every other week, and I'm not going to get fined for it being there.
Dense urban neighborhoods like the one I live in have extensive systems to remove and deal with trash and other waste. If you're getting rid of waste in a way that doesn't engage with those systems, you're not really any better than the people who toss their poo bags into the bushes. You're just moving trash out of sight and hoping some random stranger will deal with it.
posted by firechicago at 3:14 PM on October 12, 2023
If there's a sign that says "no poop in this bin," does the problem you're having go away? That might be an easy way to signal what your expectations are. Again, assuming malice is taking an unnecessary leap. If someone puts poop in your bin, they (charitably) aren't likely aware that you disagree with their assessment that the bin is where the poop goes. The average person probably doesn't think too intensely about this in the moment. They seem a bit, they see poop, the put the poop in the bin. Could a sign alert them otherwise?
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:56 PM on October 17, 2023
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:56 PM on October 17, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by HotToddy at 11:02 PM on October 11, 2023