I was really struggling to know what to write this month. Trying too hard can be problematic I find. I forced myself to go out on the morning dog walk to clear my head. The weather was fowl. It was still a bit dark, blowing a hooley and lashing rain. My local greenspace was looking especially sad today – a winter monochrome, wet, bedraggled, a smattering of litter.

My eye fell on a limp, green, new but slightly torn dog poo bag amongst the grass. For some reason I felt compelled to pick it up. I usually only do this if a dropped poo bag is clean and dry and clearly only just been dropped. I always think it is better to pick it up and use it than let it fester, get mown into a million pieces and pollute the park and become a danger to the local wildlife. The small act of picking up a piece of litter always makes me feel like I have taken a positive action and makes me feel a little better (although, you do have to be really careful when picking up litter).
However, today I lifted the poo bag and found it attached to something. I can only describe the object as a smiley poo emoji dog poo bag dispenser. I mean, who knew that was a thing? Do we really need such objects in our lives? Would a pocket not do the same thing? Can the planet cope with us having such objects in our lives? I can picture the scenario. The dog’s human scrolling through Amazon choosing from 20 pages of dog poo dispensers imported from far and wide and clicking to make a purchase. Said dog poo dispenser arrives by next day delivery duly packaged in an outsize box, which is chucked out. The dispenser is deployed for action in the field but after a few weeks sadly detaches from the dog lead and falls into the long grass – missing in action. Another Amazon order has probably already been made…
I always think local urban greenspaces act a bit like a mirror of society’s environmental values and a microcosm of how we treat the planet. To me litter is a symptom of a society that is disconnected from nature. Studies show that the more connected we are to nature the more pro-environmental and pro-conservation behaviours we exhibit. It’s quite simple really, the more connected we are to nature, the more we value it, and the more we value it, the more we look after it. Today’s find of the smiley poo emoji dog poo bag dispenser is a reminder for me to reassess what purchases I make in this coming year. Making stuff costs our planet dearly. Everything ultimately comes from nature and when things break where do they end up? Sadly, too much ends up back in nature, either dropped accidentally or as litter, fly tipped or in a hole in the ground as land fill. Let’s start by rethinking what we truly need in the first place, and when things go wrong let’s consider repairing, reusing/repurposing before recycling. My New Year’s resolution is going to be ‘Think twice before making a purchase. Do I really, truly need this?’ What will your New Year’s resolution be?
'We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.' – Howard Zinn
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.'
– Native American Proverb
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