Plastic Pooch Pollution
San Francisco’s dog population seems to have exploded during the public health crisis; so too has the resulting stream of canine poop. The dominant way to dispose of this doo-doo is through the use of plastic bags, which’re no less environmentally damaging than plastic shopping sacks, cups, and straws. Long-time 20th Street resident Maureen Ebersole and her inventor brothers, Ed Bevans and Henry Bevans, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to reduce dog-generated plastic, offering pre-orders of Rover’s Neighborhood Scoop, a patented plastic-bag-free way to collect and discard droppings. The design features no hand contact, convenient transportation in a sealed, odor-free cannister, easy disposal into a toilet as recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, simple to clean and reuse. The Kickstarter crusade runs until the end of this month.
Esprit Park
“Rec Park to Pave Parts of Esprit Park,” published in March, contained if not inaccurate, potentially misleading content. For example, the only parts of the open space that’ll literally be paved will be pathways installed to meet American Disability Act requirements. Synthetic turf – fake grass – will be installed in an area designated for dogs. A survey of 433 San Franciscans, 80 percent of whom lived in 94107, found that 42 percent preferred natural grass, 44 percent wanted a combination of natural and synthetic turf, as part of park renovation. While the article indicates that the Dogpatch & Northwest Potrero Hill Green Benefit District (GBD) will contribute $835,00 towards the project, these funds actually come from the University of California, San Francisco, to be used for design and engineering work. GBD is the fiscal sponsor.
