SO Unnecessary

There are some seriously unnecessary products out there. Unnecessary as in there is something other than this plastic piece of crap that you can use!!! But people like to create things and sell them to others who think they need them... and there ya go. Here are some products the Good Green Witch loves to hate...

3M's Scotch-Brite Cleaners. There's a whole variety. You know, because we need different handles for every single cleaning application in our lives. Right from the site: "Does your stainless steel refrigerator look like your child’s hand print drawings? The Scotch-Brite Stainless Steel Cleaner is a quick and easy way to keep those stainless steel surfaces shiny and smudge free: Pop a disposable pre-moistened pad onto the uniquely handled applicator and you’re seconds away from scratch-free, fingerprint-resistant shine." Hm. Where to begin. Let me point out that they make a cook top scrubber, tub scrubber, sink scrubber, a nook and cranny scrubber, and a grout scrubber. I'm sure I am missing a few. Sigh. And these are necessary because...???? Because a simple microfiber cloth obtained at the 99 Cent Store CAN'T handle most of those surfaces then be tossed in the laundry to be used again and again? I'm really at a loss. Unnecessary.

I want to hate this one more than I do, but at least it has a reusable microfiber cloth on it. "Clean your windows without twisting or contorting your body!" I do like the idea, but we really do not need another cheap plastic handle out there in the world. Again, you can find your microfiber cloth and make yourself something like this out of crap you already have lying around your home or garage. Plus, they come with spray bottles for the water. Really, not necessary. So, yay on the idea and the actual NON-disposable cloths involved, but come on. Unnecessary.

Woo hoo! Good doggie exercise! I find these completely unnecessary. How many end up in the landfill for no good reason? The only people that get a pass on using these are older people who still want to get their dog to run and play, but maybe have arthritis or a bad back or some such. But for everyone else... NO. Unnecessary. Oh sure, it may fling the ball super-far, but really, just throw the darn thing yourself. And if your excuse for having this is because "eeeewwww, the ball is all soggy from dog spit and it gets all muddy and eeewww...." NO. You HAVE a DOG. Dog spit was part of the deal. You don't like touching dog spit, don't have a dog. And if you are too lazy to bend over and pick up the ball... well then, just leave.

These at-your-desk no-need-to-refrigerate super-easy yummy meals are all over the place. Frankly, I'm horrified. It's not like anyone is keeping the strainers that come with each and every frozen or packaged meal to use for other things. How many of these grossly unnecessary pieces of plastic are getting thrown away every day in this country? I shudder to think. And yet, we don't think about it at all, we take it for granted that once thrown away in in the bin, it's somehow magically OK, but it's not.  I understand people are busy. But that's no reason to thrash the place for the rest of us who actually manage our time. How busy will we be when we've destroyed life as we know it because we couldn't make meals over the weekends and bring them to work in a sustainable manner? Not too busy, I think.

There are so many others. They can wait for another day. Unfortunately, there is no lack of subject matter. And the Good Green Witch is angry. Angry, and dismayed, and alarmed, and all other sorts of things. Why can't we just stop, think, look around at what we are doing? Why are WE, me writing this and you reading this, in such a minority? I'll keep on keeping on, and so will you, and then I guess all we can do is hope for the best, and that people will wake up before it's too late.

Unless it already is.

It's Not OK. It's Poop. Scoop it!

Roughly 6 out of 7 days, I enjoy a nice power-walk up the nearby Hollywood Hills. My Runyon Canyon. I can walk to it, and I love it. It's a beautiful city park, mostly wild, not a lot of pavement, home to snakes and, I'm sure, more than a few coyotes. It is also an off-leash dog park, which I love, even though I don't have a dog. I get to see dogs of all shapes and breeds and sizes, and all of them are just happy to be out and walking and not one of them ever bothers me. They make me smile.

Dogs are great. I love dogs. What I do not love is their people. Not all of them... just those who feel they do NOT need to scoop the poop. What gives?? It's poop. It's gross. I don't want to smell it. I don't want to look at it. And, let us not forget, it is actually the LAW to pick it up. So why? Why the complete and total lack of compliance? Just because I have the audacity to want to walk where dogs also walk, that means I have to be the one who avoids the doggie-bombs?

"So what? We're outside." Yes we are. We ALL are. I'm here too. And I am not here to look at/smell your dog's excrement. I'm here to get some fresh air and exercise. YOU chose to have a dog. Part of having a dog is picking up the poop. You knew it pooped when you got it. "Outside", contrary to being a reason to leave it, is actually a reason to scoop it. It's poop. We are not that far from the ocean. So much poop was not meant to wash into the eco-system. And do you really want to think about swimming in poop run-off when you're at the beach? Um, ick.

But back to the more immediate issue: it's poop. Is there a reason you think it is OK to leave it lying there in a pile for all to see/smell/step in? "It's natural. It's biodegradable." So's my poop. You don't see me leaving a crap by the side of the trail. Is it really that much more acceptable to have dog poop there instead of human poop? (If you say yes to that, you have to show your work, BTW.) Yes, yes, it's biodegradable, but in the time it takes it to biodegrade, it attracts flies and puts off a lot of smelliness. This is not OK. It is unsightly, it is unsanitary, it is unhealthy. Above all, it is unnecessary.

I go back to an earlier point: you knew the dog produced crap when you got it. You know that when you take it for its walk, it is going to poop. You know it's the law. (You'd better, there are signs EVERYWHERE.) It is your responsibility, not only as a dog person but as a fellow human to the rest of us, to scoop that poop. There is absolutely no excuse to do otherwise. None. Nada. Nope. Nothing. Scoop it. Period.

Obviously, making it a law to "curb your dog" has no effect whatsoever. What's the answer? Can we shame people into cleaning up after their dogs? Unlikely. More vigilance? Hard to do. Personally, I dream of installing a doggie poop composting system at Runyon, because if even half of what is left is no longer left, it's an improvement. I fantasize of banning the irresponsible from having dogs at all. But that's just me. I tend to be extreme.

I have no solution. All I can do is try to catch people in the act, one at a time, and hope to make a tiny change.

Oh, and make sure to watch where I step.