Like most Bay Area residents I know, I try my best to do my part and recycle, reuse, and compost. I’ll even chase a bitch down who litters. But since I didn’t have a dog, the pet poo epidemic polluting our city streets was sorta not my problem. Sure, I’d regularly step over and around piles on sidewalks, but I didn’t give it much thought. I just assumed it would naturally decompose.

Then we got Chicken, our rescue mutt from the Milo Foundation. Now that I have to pick up her warm piles on the regular, suddenly, I’m researching poop disposal, looking into biodegradable doggie bags, and noticing all the piles left by irresponsible dog owners. I had no idea just how dangerous not picking up dog crap actually is, and why it’s so important to pick up your pets business on your walk and dispose of it properly.

I realize there are a lot of pet owners who aren’t informed about proper doggie-doo disposable, just as I wasn’t. In learning about doing my part in keeping our Bay safe, there’s now a certain pride I feel in watching our little darling drop a deuce, and then disposing of it properly.

Here are several reasons why picking up your dog’s poop and throwing it away is important for everyone:

Someone’s going to step in it

No one saw your dog lay some pipe in the front of the Whole Foods, so it didn’t happen. That works when a tree falls in a forest, but not when a poo log rolls in the city. We’ve all had the unfortunate experience of stepping in crap. Don’t ruin someone’s day by blatantly not dealing with your dog’s business.

You’ll look like a jerk

I’ve seen a handful of dog owners let their pooch shit on my street, see me cutting them with my eyes, and be all, “I don’t have a bag.” You don’t? So your plan was to just let your dog defecate wherever? Compare it to a baby. Would you go walking with your three-month-old and when it craps, just shrug and wipe its butt on the closest lawn? No, you wouldn’t. If you’re forgetful, get one of those poop-bag pouches to attach to your leash.

There is no Poop Fairy

Everyone has seen it: a small, knotted bag in the road or on your hike that contains a heavy crap-shaped mass. At first, I assumed the person who left it was coming back for it. But the more walks Chicken and I took, the more I’d see the same bags the next day. We don’t live in a magical unicorn city where a nightly poop-bag fairy gathers up these abandoned waste sacks. Where do you think it will go? Do you just not even care? Why even bag it? It’s true that carrying a stink sack is gross, but there are solutions. I just ordered this PoopPac Dog Walker’s Case that safely contains used waste bags until I’m near a trash can.

Dog poop can destroy nature

Sometimes while hiking our amazing Bay Area trails, I’ll happen upon a giant meadow completely covered in dog droppings. I used to think letting my pooch join the poop party just contributed to extra earth fertilizer. False. Now I know that dog shit doesn’t break down like that, and these shit pastures are giant petri dishes of disease. Each crap becomes a tiny pile of dangerous pathogens that eventually makes its way into our water supplies, which aren’t equipped to filter dog waste.

And unlike the stuff wild animals leave behind, your dog’s feces is NOT a natural part of the environment. Rabbits, coyotes, deer, sure — but your groomed Maltese, nope. According to the EPA, doggie doo-doo is as harmful to the environment as chemical and oil spills. Those toxins can cause E. coli, giardia, and parvo. Letting a dog dump in the gutter is also a pollution crime. The assumption is it’ll just wash into the ocean. But as the waste goes into the storm drains, those germs again contaminate the waterways, which can cause people and wildlife forest friends to contract diseases.

And btw, dog poop and dog waste bags are not compostable

Even though dog bags should be biodegradable, the Sierra Club reports you should never place poop or used waste bags in the compost bin. Drop bagged doo into the garbage instead.