Neighbor Ron created a new product for dog owners, and he wants to offer you a neighborly discount:
I’ve been a Bernal resident for almost 3 years now (moved from North Beach), and I absolutely love the neighborhood. Being a dog enthusiast my whole life, I was thrilled to be moving into Bernal Heights where dogs and people seem to live in perfect harmony. A couple years ago, toxic plastic bags were being discontinued in favor of BYOB and paper bags, which cut into the supply of bags to pick up after your pets.
The pet stores around the Bay Area still sold plastic bags for dog owners, and I decided to search for a different solution. After conducting some research, I decided the problem could be solved with en eco-friendly dog waste bag, made entirely out of natural materials.
Bark Bags are made from corn starch, and they’re non toxic and designed in San Francisco. We are on a mission to help dog owners Reduce their Carbon Paw Print by picking up after their pooches with eco friendly bags.
Click here for 5% off and Free Shipping: Use the code Bernal
PHOTO: Neighbor Ron
Bernalwood 
Like the name “Bark bags.”
The great dog invention yet to be would allow dogs to carry their own poop bags without complaint.
To clarify, allow dogs to carry their own bags full of poop without complaint.
Better if they can pickup after themselves since it appears their thumbed family members are getting LAZIER. I would like the poop flagged back:)
Love the idea! We only use eco-friendly dog bags and so it would be awesome to support a local business!
I hate to be the Reality Grinch here, but plastic bags are NOT TOXIC, nor do they have a large carbon footprint. Please don’t spread this Northern California delusion, even to sell your product. They are made from normal byproducts of natural gas refinement, therefore they make use of waste products and are made locally, where they are used. The production of paper bags and reusable bags (ironically often made from recycled plastic bags) uses far more resources and more harmful substances than plastic bag production. Plus, they are made overseas (check the tags on your bags–China or Vietnam) and shipped here on fuel-guzzling ships.
Where are these “eco-friendly” bags produced? Actually, if calling your bags “eco-friendly” increases the amount of poop scooping, then I don’t care. And great good fortune to you!
But “toxic” has an actual scientific meaning. Words matter. Please use them responsibly.
Reality Grinch, Part 2…
Well, I looked at the Barkbags website, and there is no mention of where they are produced. They are “designed” in San Francisco.
The FAQ also needs correcting. One answer says the bags contain “no chemical additives or toxins.” First, EVERYTHING in the universe, without exception, is made of chemicals. The building blocks of our world are cataloged in a little chart called The Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements. Second, EVERYTHING in the universe, without exception, is toxic at some level of exposure. The dose makes the poison.
Green, eco-friendly, etc. ideas are all well and good until they try to co-opt scientific terminology in an already woefully scientifically illiterate society…
You could just say that the bags are awesome and green because they are designed to biodegrade, whereas normal resin bags aren’t (easily, at least). Truth in advertising 🙂
Please remember also that compost bins are NOT for poop. Dog and cat poop is not compost.
Bernal cut:
I’ve always wondered why pet poop isn’t compostable… Do you know? I mean, steer (and other) manure is a fairly expensive soil amendment… what’s wrong with cats and dogs?
🙂
cats and dogs eat meat.
bags?
Also you don’t want dog or cat poop in compost because the compost may not get hot enough to kill pathogens like ecoli and salmonella to make a few. Cats can carry toxoplasmosis.
Meat. It’s about the meat they eat.
Both cat and dog poop are very toxic. People who leave behind their dog poop also are contaminating the water table. Guess it doesn’t “matter” much when it’s sitting next to a pile of human poo. Oh sarcasm.
Just use your own trash bin instead of a strangers compost or recycle bin. That’s just rude.
aren’t these bio bags?
Also you don’t want dog or cat poop in compost because the compost may not get hot enough to kill pathogens like ecoli and salmonella to make a few. Cats can carry toxoplasmosis.
Reality Grinch part 3:
Where is dog poop supposed to be dispsed of? What goes into the landfill should only be things that either do not biodegrade or take FOREVER to do so. Anything that degrades or can be recycled or composted should not go in a landfill. Human poop goes in sewage. Dirty human diaper poop is supposed to be scraped into toilet (who does THAT?) and compostable diapers require subscription to a composting service where the compost is submitted to high heat to kill of germs. The resulting compost is apparently not used for agricultural soil. So back to the original bark bag product. For now, we all put dog poop into the landfill, which is already not ideal. Adding an “eco friendly” bag doesnt really change the fact or even improve on the fact that dog poop really shouldnt be in a landfill. Anyone know where dog poop should go in the ideal world? (Besides in the middle of a forrest where other animals are free to poop?)
Good question, Fiona B.
#1: Tina Fey had a character whose dog’s butt was sewed shut so as not to present such a problem…
#2: (In which I get to give GOOD news) The landfill shortage issue is a myth. The shortest and most convincing fact is this: if you take an empty plot of land in the middle of the country that is 35 miles square, and 100 yards deep, and use it as a landfill for ALL of the entire U.S.’s waste, it would take a thousand years to fill it.
Modern landfills are not an ecological problem.
And on the issue of how dangerous dog poop is… It seems a little over-exaggerated. I mean, I see dog owners letting their dogs lick them on the face all the time, shaking paws with them, etc. In case it needs pointing out: dogs are what is politely termed “opportunistic coprophages.” So those are very interesting face licks. Dogs also use their paws to dig at the waste products they don’t consume.
So, worrying about the substance once it’s sealed in plastic seems… ummmm… odd.
The dog poop is taking over Bernal Heights. Many dog owners don’t even pick up the poop. They stare at the view and pretend they don’t see their dogs pooping. ?They leave the bags in the grass. I not longer enjoy the Hill because it smells like dog shit and owners allow their dogs to jump on me and comment, ” he’s friendly.” Next time I will carry a walking stick to keep dogs away from me and my grandchildren.
Equally as important, doggy do does not belong in the compost!!!!