How these plastic picking pups are saving the planet
Walking a dog is a daily occurrence for pet owners around the world. Many dogs go on more than one walk per day, especially if they don’t have a fenced yard to potty in. One initiative is seeking to turn this daily ritual into a force for good, by encouraging dog owners to pick up two pieces of litter on every walk.
Over time, two pieces of plastic every day can mean hundreds of pounds being taken out of the environment. Most people don’t stop at two pieces and fill whole bags as they walk their pets along beaches, rivers, or even their own roads.
The initiative is through Twitter, using the hashtag #pawsonplastic. It encourages walkers to share their litter picks to help raise awareness for the movement. A look at the hashtag often reveals hundreds of cute dogs from scrappy little terriers all the way up to giant great danes walking with their owners in beautiful settings while picking up plastic.
As of now 20,000 dog owners are part of the movement, but there are millions of dog owners out there. If all of them picked up two pieces of plastic each walk, the world would rapidly be on its way to being cleaner for everyone.
Litter is a huge problem, and it can kill wildlife. As many as 1 million marine animals die every year due to plastic debris in the ocean, and land animals can also be victims. We’ve all seen a hilarious video of a bear or raccoon getting rescued from a plastic jar stuck on their heads, but these videos wouldn’t be so funny if the animal wasn’t found until it’s too late.
Dog lovers are animal lovers, and combining pets and plastic pick up has become a beautiful movement to turn a daily walk for the dog into a daily walk for the planet as well.