The Scoop

It comes as a great relief to my family that as I invest time in writing, I have less time to devote to "Ways To Make Life Better," such as the reusable dog poop bag. My intentions were good. Filling plastic grocery bags with dog poop to be dumped in landfills hurts the environment. So I stitched a triple-layered bag of peach cotton fabric, complete with a drawstring tie and matching triple-layered scooping cloths. My invention worked. In a finely tuned partnership, Chuck the blind dog and I walked the block. He deposited the poop, I scooped it. Once our walk finished, I flushed the bag's still warm contents down the toilet. Once each week, I washed the bag and scooping cloths in a private hot water, high bleach load of laundry. I was happy with the solution, my family wasn't. As they pointed out, on my walks I looked like I was scooping poop into my purse. And not only do we know our neighbors, but there is always the chance that friends of Birdie or Daisy might drive by, mid-scoop. So I stopped. I am back to plastic bags. But there may be a better solution. Two subdivisions over, I spied a man holding a large plastic jar under his squatting dog. From a distance, it looked like peanut butter, chunky peanut butter.