LAKEVIEW — Some dog owners say Chicago's impending plastic bag ban "stinks," but others argue it stinks less than a landfill full of dog poop.
On Aug. 1, Chicago is cracking down on large chain stores offering free thin plastic bags to customers, meaning dog owners who depend on the t-shirt bags may run out of their supply for poo-pickup.
"It’s not fun to begin with, let alone having to actually pay for it now," Yolanda Miller said of cleaning up after her nine-year-old pug Meatball. "That kind of stinks."
Monday night, the Lakeview resident carried with her white Mariano's and Jewel-Osco bags on a walk near Hamlin Park.
She hadn't heard of the bag ban.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, quite honestly," she said. "I have no idea."
Pet stores sell rolls of small plastic bags designed for dog waste, some boasting faster decomposition than traditional plastic.
At Sam and Willy's, a pet boutique at 3405 N. Paulina St., 120 Earth-Rated dog poop bags cost $8, or about 7 cents per bag. The bags contain an additive that makes the plastic break down faster.
Kyla Gardner says there are health concerns if owners don't pick up:
Pet stores sell plastic bags designed for dog waste. [DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
A roll of completely compostable bags comes to about 11 cents per bag.
Pam Chastain, also a Lakeview resident, buys dog waste-specific bags with a vanilla scent for picking up after her five-year-old English cream Golden Retriever Dudley.
"There's an odor that comes out of the garbage can," Chastain said of owners using regular plastic bags, wrinkling her nose. "We’re talking about a 120-pound dog. That’s a lot of poop. So I couldn’t imagine using Jewel bags."
Pam Chastain said she's never used plastic grocery bags for her dog Dudley's waste. [DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
Of the five other owners at the Hamlin Park dog area with Chastain Monday night, none were carrying free grocery bags.
"Everyone in my neighborhood has a dog, and I don’t see anyone have a Jewel bag," Chastain said.
She said she was happy the ordinance passed in Chicago.
"I just picture this waste field of plastic bags," she said. "It's about time."
A sign tells dog walkers to curb their dogs. [Flickr/Ryan Lothian]
Brian Vitale, co-owner of Doggy Detail, a poo pickup service for Chicago and surrounding areas, said his employees use lobby pans to pick up waste.
But to prevent cross-contamination, the pans are covered with 13-gallon kitchen bags, and the poo disposed of in a commercial dumpster.
"Nobody wants to use a paper bag, a lunch bag, for it," Vitale said.
Vitale is skeptical dog owners will be stripped of their free poo bags, though. There's a loophole that allows businesses to give away sturdier plastic bags considered reusable for free, reports the Tribune.
A Jewel spokeswoman confirmed in an email that the store will give away the thicker bags "at no cost to the customer."
Vitale said he thinks owners will just switch to using those for poo.
"I think everyone is going to go about their lives as normal, unfortunately," he said.
Plastic bags are not accepted in Chicago's blue bins, but must be returned to the retailers for recycling.
Yolanda Miller said she feels she is recycling her plastic bags by re-using them for dog waste.
"For my purposes, I feel like I'm recycling them," she said. "I'm sure a lot of people don’t recycle them, they throw them out. So I guess I understand [the bag ban], but it will be an inconvenience."
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