As supermarkets move away from single-use plastic bags, should dog owners do the same?

The anti-plastic movement has a new quandary - what to do with dog poo.

Dog owners in Marlborough stumbled across a dog of a dilemma last week after discovering a string of dog poos wrapped in plastic bags left by Blenheim's Taylor River.

First they were angry someone would pick up after their pooch but not bother to bin it.

LUZ ZUNIGA/STUFF Is wrapping dog poo in plastic the best idea?

Then they got to thinking - why do we use non-biodegradable plastic bags to pick up dog poo?

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The Government announced on Friday a plan to crack down on single-use plastic bags over the next year.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF New Zealand could soon be free of single-use plastic bags and straws, but what about dog poo bags?

Blenheim canine lover Wendy Champion said the council should start providing biodegradable bags as part of the annual dog registration fee.

Champion said she was looking around her house the other day, and realised she reused most of her plastic bags picking up after her Border Collie, Shadow.

"Every day I'm walking my dog and I use two or three bags," Champion said.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Marlborough District Council provides plastic bags for dog poo and has not considered other options.

"Just thinking that what he leaves on the ground would naturally decay in about three months but the plastic bag I put it in will probably outlast my dog.



"There must be a better product than plastic.

"It's time we got the council away from the plastic bags and got them onto something that was landfill-friendly …

"I would like to see them give dog owners a voucher like they do with rubbish bags to take into the supermarket and pick up environmentally-friendly bags."

It could be built into the cost of registration, she said.





Champion went online and spent $100 on dog poo bags that broke down in landfill.



"If the council purchased them ... they would get a much better deal than what I could as an individual ... I think they should be leading the way really."

Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage was on hand with prime minister Jacinda Ardern when the government's new plastic bag plan was announced.

VIRGINIA FALLON/STUFF Plastic bag it? Biodegradable bag it? Let it decompose naturally?

"We know single-use plastic bags are a problem, with millions of plastics bags used each year in New Zealand and decisive action is needed," she said.

Sage did not say how dog poo bags would be affected under a new plastic bag policy.

Rotorua Lakes Council supplied free biodegradable dog poo bags from the council and the local i-Site.

Nelson resident Arnold Mason, tagging in on a Neighbourly post, said coastal walkways through Queensland supplied biodegradable bags and poo-specific rubbish bins.

"Perhaps Blenheim can do the same," he said.

A Marlborough District Council reserves officer said they had not considered putting in a different system for dog poo waste management.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Blenheim resident Agnes Takacs and Honey often run along the Taylor River and have been questioning the place of plastics in the dog poo saga.

Ecobags NZ director Jaspret Kohli said they offered scented and unscented "Earth Rated Poop Bags".

"We've got compostable poop bags and that is probably the most eco-friendly available.



"It's made out of cornstarch and it can be sent to industrial composting facilities.

Even if the dog poop bags ended up in landfill, they would still degrade or compost quicker than conventional bags, Kohli said.

SCOTT HAMMOND/STUFF Blenheim resident Kevin Hawkins says responsible dog owners should pick up after their pooches.

They had been supplying compostable bags to pick up the doo at Auckland Zoo for two years, Kohli said.



In Blenheim, the council supplied plastic bags - like the ones for your veggies in the supermarket - along the river for walkers to pick up after their pooches.



The bags joined the rest of Marlborough's waste and went to landfill.

Blenheim dog owner Agnes Takacs said every time she ran along the Taylor River, she would pass five or six doggy bags filled with poop.

It irked her that while plastics were in the process of being banned, plastic bags filled with poo, lined the river.

"Without plastic it would be gone in no time ... in my opinion it's better to just leave it, than to bag it up and not put it in the bin."

More bins along the Taylor River wouldn't solve the plastic issue, but it might stop people leaving bagged poo on the path, she said.

WHY YOU SHOULD STILL BAG

Dog poo carries disease

Dog poo contaminates water

It burns grass and lawns