Use old bags for ‘doggy-do’
Paonia has long struggled with getting dog owners to do their "doody-duty" and pick up after their pets. A new solution has been introduced at the Paonia River Park: dispensers made of PVC pipe that park users cooperatively refill with plastic grocery and newspaper bags.
One dispenser is placed at the entrance to the boat ramp and riverside trail and another is placed down the riverside trail at the intersection of the trail and Minnesota Creek Bridge. The dispensers have decals on them that remind dog walkers that it is their responsibility to clean up pet waste and to please dispose of the waste in the parking lot dumpster and help keep the tubes filled with bags. Dog walkers can now help themselves to the bags and save their leftover bags at home to bring to the park next time they see the dispensers running low. Any park user with an excess of plastic bags can contribute to filling the tubes, even if they are not a dog owner.
The Western Slope Conservation Center, which operates the park with support from the Town of Paonia, constructed the dispensers using PVC pipe supplied by Dependable Lumber Hardware Store. Dependable Lumber also generously donated labor and cut the circular holes in the sides of the pipe for users to take and insert bags.
The design was borrowed from Boulder, where the dispensers have significantly reduced dog waste in city parks.
The Conservation Center invites all North Fork Valley residents who have an excess of saved plastic bags to help keep our River Park clean and pristine by contributing to the tubes next time they're at the park.
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