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Time to stub out the mess

Dogs, you either love 'em or hate 'em.

The people who despise our four-legged friends often fear them, find their barking irritating and certainly resent stepping in their droppings.

And who can blame them for the latter; at some time or other we've all limped home smelling to high heaven and cursing the perpetrator, and their owner.

So it was with some pleasure that I heard one of my neighbours sing out to me last weekend as I bent to collect my dog's offending pile: "Thank you, I appreciate you doing that very much."

I replied that it was only right, and she responded: "I know, but most people don't understand that, and I see you also pick up other litter in the park."

Which is true, and no big deal really. It is just part of being a responsible citizen, keeping our lovely coastline clean and our waterways clear.

So when I'm out walking the pups I not only do the pooper scoop thing for my dogs, I also pick up other dogs' messes and a lot of human waste - cans, bottles, plastic and paper, whatever I can fit in.

But the ubiquitous cigarette butts beat me. They are so small, infiltrate every nook and cranny, and are so unsightly.

It's estimated that seven billion cigarette butts are thrown away or left on the ground each year in Australia, making up an astonishing 46 per cent of the national litter stream, according to the Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Audit.

It's not just that they mar the landscape, they are also a toxic little cocktail, containing chemicals including nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, lead, mercury and arsenic, which don't go down well with our marine animals or wildlife.

My interest in the subject was sparked as I walked through Sydney's CBD last week. There huddled in doorways and alcoves, up back alleys and side streets, smokers puffed away as though their lives depended on it.

They had a sort of surreptitious, furtive look about them, pariahs in our midst. Although their nicotine hit is legal, the warnings on the ciggie packets and constantly played out in the media underline the risk they are taking with their own health and, via passive smoking, the health of others.

But people with far more authority than me can take up that argument. What really concerned me was the waste from their nasty little habit.

The workers puffing away on the city streets sometimes had bins into which they could stub their glowing sticks - and some of these were full to overflowing - but many didn't and ground the remains into the footpath.

Street sweepers will pick up some of the poisonous critters, but many will find their way into stormwater drains and from there into the waterways.

The problem is so serious that several coastal Sydney councils have moved to ban smoking on beaches, sporting fields and children's playgrounds.

Melbourne City Council has gone a step further, putting butt cops on the beat who can deliver on-the-spot fines of $100 for stubbing out on the pavement or $200 for dropping a still-lighted fag end.

And so it should be. If we dog owners can be hit with fines of up to $200 for not scooping up doggy doos, so smokers should be induced to butt out responsibly.

They make strange bedfellows, dog owners and smokers, but it's all in the name of a good cause: preserving our beautiful coastline.

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Posted By: By JENI HARVIE on 20/05/2008 4:42:38 PM | Comments (2)

Comments

Date: Newest first | Oldest first

Thank you again, Jeni Harvey, for your actions and your opinion.

My old companion has crossed the rainbow bridge, so I no longer walk and pick up poo. When I see people passing who don't pick up their dogs poo, I feel like shouting out "What about a plastic bag?"

Posted by Fergie on 21/05/2008 10:41:22 AM

We pay for litter pick-up in our rates; interpret this as saying that the people who litter cigarette butts, food wrappers and drink bottles are not the offenders and should not be ‘blamed’.

In Paris, the same acceptance of dog poo applies – there are publicly funded poo collectors.

But in Australia, we separate dog poo from all other litter, even though it is organic and has a much lower environmental impact than human sewage, pesticides, escaped garden weeds, stormwater, plastic litter and cigarette butt litter.

Every responsible dog owner needs to get their local government to prosecute those who don't pick up.

They are making our life in public space with our dogs more and more restricted.

Posted by Barking Mad Equity for Pet Owners on 21/05/2008 6:58:24 PM

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