dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
As a dog owner who uses biodegradable bags, I have mixed feelings on this. I think as a pilot project the City could pick up the cost of the bags initially, they're cheap. However once people get the idea they should be sold in pet stores, preferably in a couple of sizes deferring the cost back onto dog owners. 125,000 bags won't last long when contrasted against 1,400 tonnes of dog waste a year.
Parks offer pooch paper bags
City says biodegradable, plastic bags don't work for waste in green bins in dog-walking parks
Apr 28, 2009 04:30 AM
Paola Loriggio
STAFF REPORTER
Some of the city's most popular dog-walking parks will boast green bins starting next month, part of the city's efforts to keep dog waste and other litter out of landfills.
But to use them, dog owners will have to stoop-and-scoop using city-provided paper bags, a prospect some say could deter even the most environmentally conscious.
"The majority of dog owners, including myself, use small plastic bags to dispose of the dog waste," and many buy biodegradable bags, says John Cleary, co-chair of the High Park K-9 Committee, an advisory group.
"Convincing dog owners to use paper products ... will likely not be easy," added Cleary, who has a 4-year-old yellow Lab cross named Caeli. The paper bags provided seem better suited to the waste of small dogs, he noted.
High Park is one of about 20 to be equipped with bins and paper-bag dispensers in a city-wide pilot project expected to last five months. The parks were chosen for their "high volume" of dogs and proximity to existing waste collection routes, said parks manager Carol Cormier.
In most parks, the bins will be placed near off-leash areas and wheeled out to the curb once a week for pickup, Cormier said.
The city aims to divert 70 per cent of park trash from landfill by 2010, up from the current 50 per cent, Cormier said. Dog waste makes up about 25 per cent of park trash, up to 1,400 tonnes annually.
A similar pilot last year outfitted six parks with green bins, but the bins ended up "heavily contaminated with plastic bags," a parks report shows.
Cormier hopes that will change when the city unveils its new paper bags, complete with cardboard scoop to pick up dog waste. The bags, made in the Czech Republic, were the clear winners in a test run, she said.
The city ordered 125,000 bags at a penny each – the only operating cost of the program, Cormier said.
"Paper is the only environmentally friendly solution," she said. Even biodegradable bags don't have time to decompose before they reach the waste treatment plant, she said, and end up processed like regular plastic.
Jane Scott, co-owner of the Toronto dog-walking service K925, says she was shocked to discover her biodegradable bags couldn't go in the green bins. But Scott says she had no problem switching to the paper ones provided at Stanley Park South.
"I can do three to four big dogs with one bag," she said. "The scooper works beautifully."
Squeamish dog owners should give the bags a chance, Scott said. "Do what you've got to do" as a responsible dog owner, she advised.
Cleary, of the High Park K-9 Committee, says the city should come up with a system that can handle the biodegradable bags, since that's what most dog owners prefer.
"If the city is able to work out the kinks in the program, I don't see a reason why green bins can't be used in the majority of off-leash areas."
***
PARKS WITH BINS
The following parks will be equipped with green bins in May:
* Bickford Park
* High Park
* Stanley South Park
* Allan Gardens
* Kew Gardens
* Trinity Bellwoods Park
* Centennial Park
* King's Mill Park
* Wallace Emerson Park
* Cruickshank Park
* Malta Park
* Withrow Park
* Dufferin Grove
* Neilson ParkvWoburn Park
* Earl Bales Park
* Nordheimer RavinevWoodbine Park Eglinton Flats
* Sackville Playground
* Greenwood Park
* Sorauren Park
Source: Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation
***
Dogs, at least the ones known to the City's license system, cluster along the lake shore east of downtown and in the neighbourhoods along Yonge St. south of Hwy. 401.
The list is led by Lawrence Park (M4N), followed closely by the Beaches (M4E and M4L).
(Urban observation has it right on this one - there really are a lot more dogs in the Beaches than elsewhere in the city.)
The dog ownership rate has generally risen across the city over the last four years. In absolute numbers, there were just under 49,000 licenced dogs in August of 2008, compared with 36,000 in 2004.
These numbers, of course, reflect the number of dogs which are properly licenced. It's hard to know how much of the change reflects better enforcement, and how much is due to an actual increase in animals.
The dog licence rate has fallen in 24 postal areas, and it would be interesting to know why. The strip of blue on the map running from the Beaches west through downtown and then northwest through the old city's west end looks very much like the pattern in the 2004 pit bull map.
Parks offer pooch paper bags
City says biodegradable, plastic bags don't work for waste in green bins in dog-walking parks
Apr 28, 2009 04:30 AM
Paola Loriggio
STAFF REPORTER
Some of the city's most popular dog-walking parks will boast green bins starting next month, part of the city's efforts to keep dog waste and other litter out of landfills.
But to use them, dog owners will have to stoop-and-scoop using city-provided paper bags, a prospect some say could deter even the most environmentally conscious.
"The majority of dog owners, including myself, use small plastic bags to dispose of the dog waste," and many buy biodegradable bags, says John Cleary, co-chair of the High Park K-9 Committee, an advisory group.
"Convincing dog owners to use paper products ... will likely not be easy," added Cleary, who has a 4-year-old yellow Lab cross named Caeli. The paper bags provided seem better suited to the waste of small dogs, he noted.
High Park is one of about 20 to be equipped with bins and paper-bag dispensers in a city-wide pilot project expected to last five months. The parks were chosen for their "high volume" of dogs and proximity to existing waste collection routes, said parks manager Carol Cormier.
In most parks, the bins will be placed near off-leash areas and wheeled out to the curb once a week for pickup, Cormier said.
The city aims to divert 70 per cent of park trash from landfill by 2010, up from the current 50 per cent, Cormier said. Dog waste makes up about 25 per cent of park trash, up to 1,400 tonnes annually.
A similar pilot last year outfitted six parks with green bins, but the bins ended up "heavily contaminated with plastic bags," a parks report shows.
Cormier hopes that will change when the city unveils its new paper bags, complete with cardboard scoop to pick up dog waste. The bags, made in the Czech Republic, were the clear winners in a test run, she said.
The city ordered 125,000 bags at a penny each – the only operating cost of the program, Cormier said.
"Paper is the only environmentally friendly solution," she said. Even biodegradable bags don't have time to decompose before they reach the waste treatment plant, she said, and end up processed like regular plastic.
Jane Scott, co-owner of the Toronto dog-walking service K925, says she was shocked to discover her biodegradable bags couldn't go in the green bins. But Scott says she had no problem switching to the paper ones provided at Stanley Park South.
"I can do three to four big dogs with one bag," she said. "The scooper works beautifully."
Squeamish dog owners should give the bags a chance, Scott said. "Do what you've got to do" as a responsible dog owner, she advised.
Cleary, of the High Park K-9 Committee, says the city should come up with a system that can handle the biodegradable bags, since that's what most dog owners prefer.
"If the city is able to work out the kinks in the program, I don't see a reason why green bins can't be used in the majority of off-leash areas."
***
PARKS WITH BINS
The following parks will be equipped with green bins in May:
* Bickford Park
* High Park
* Stanley South Park
* Allan Gardens
* Kew Gardens
* Trinity Bellwoods Park
* Centennial Park
* King's Mill Park
* Wallace Emerson Park
* Cruickshank Park
* Malta Park
* Withrow Park
* Dufferin Grove
* Neilson ParkvWoburn Park
* Earl Bales Park
* Nordheimer RavinevWoodbine Park Eglinton Flats
* Sackville Playground
* Greenwood Park
* Sorauren Park
Source: Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation
***
Dogs, at least the ones known to the City's license system, cluster along the lake shore east of downtown and in the neighbourhoods along Yonge St. south of Hwy. 401.
The list is led by Lawrence Park (M4N), followed closely by the Beaches (M4E and M4L).
(Urban observation has it right on this one - there really are a lot more dogs in the Beaches than elsewhere in the city.)
The dog ownership rate has generally risen across the city over the last four years. In absolute numbers, there were just under 49,000 licenced dogs in August of 2008, compared with 36,000 in 2004.
These numbers, of course, reflect the number of dogs which are properly licenced. It's hard to know how much of the change reflects better enforcement, and how much is due to an actual increase in animals.
The dog licence rate has fallen in 24 postal areas, and it would be interesting to know why. The strip of blue on the map running from the Beaches west through downtown and then northwest through the old city's west end looks very much like the pattern in the 2004 pit bull map.
