Dog Waste! It's a national problem of course, whether you step in it or find someone has thrown a plastic bag full of it in your garden. Dog waste bins work if they are emptied often enough, but these are not usually found in rural areas and are expensive to maintain. Some people pick the dog waste up but then do not want to carry it home, or put it in the car and drive home after a walk. An accidentally squashed bag of dog waste in your car is very unpleasant!

Dog waste can contain parasites and can be harmful to farm animals but, like all other animal waste, it will get broken down by nature and eventually fertilises the soil around allowing for plants to grow and microorganisms to thrive. If dog waste were to be moved to hedge bottoms, off walking tracks, off farmers fields and so on, then the waste itself would not be a problem. The problem is that virtually all waste bags are plastic. Plastic waste bags do not easily degrade, and can be swallowed anciently by wildlife. Plastic bags also spoil the look of many beautiful places that Wales has to offer. Plastic is also a greenhouse gas issue.

The solution therefore is for Wales to ban the sale and use of plastic dog waste bags and only allow compostable bags. The dog waste can still be cleanly picked up, but now the whole bag and contents can be placed somewhere out of the way - under a hedge or in woodland (or indeed still taken home), and left to decompose naturally.