Page 15 - Irene Farm Village Issue 10 2021

Estate News

a cigarette butt to break down, so it’s inconsiderate to leave
them on a nature trail.
If you do feel the urge to smoke on a pristine trail, why
not carry a ZipLoc plastic bag along with you? Extinguish
the cigarette and place the butt in the bag. That way, you do
not have to share your bad habit with fellow residents. That’s
mindfulness.
We owe it to ourselves, to our fellow residents and to our
children to protect our environment for the future. Look at
what has happened around the world with floods, droughts
and other environmental disasters due to climate change,
brought on by a lack of mindfulness by the human race.
Speak to your kids and employees about placing empty fast
food containers in bins, rather than tossing them into a bush.
Every little bit helps.
When New York was buried under litter, the city’s
administrators created the ‘Broken Window Policy’: they said
that urban degradation starts with a broken window that is
not fixed. They fined errant landlords and also fined citizens for
littering. Soon, the city was a place to be proud of.
We do not want to ban dogs from our parks and trails, but
dog owners need to be more respectful of other residents. Pick
up your dog poops, your litter, your masks and your cigarette
butts. Realise how privileged we are to live in our beautiful
Cigarette butts flicked over an estate property wall onto a perimeter path estate. Our communal environment will only remain that way
if we all become mindful.
the butts over your wall into the adjacent park area. Who is
going to pick up the COVID mask you discarded in the estate in
the middle of a pandemic?
In our estate, there is at least one very big dog - and very
big dogs make very big poops. One such very big dog is
walked on the same trail daily. He often poops along the way,
but his owners do not scoop the poops. The trail is now full
of large poops and walking through there is like negotiating A convenient poop bag dispenser
a minefield. It’s unpleasant, unhygienic and shows disrespect that clips onto a dog leash
towards other residents sharing the trail. It’s particularly
insulting to people who do not own dogs and they are well
within their rights to complain. The very big dog’s owners
show no mindfulness.
There are rolls of poop bags available at supermarkets
and pet shops. They’re easy to use, biodegradable and
compostable. Carry them on your walks, use them when your
dog poops and dispose of them in the many bins available in
our estate.
There’s another guy I call the ‘Marlboro Man’. I’ve never
met him, but he leaves a trail of white cigarette butts on our
beautiful estate trail. Sometimes, he leaves the empty box
as well, hence the nickname I’ve given him. It takes years for

Andy is a dog walker and basic trainer. Contact him on
andyhub.dogwalkerz@gmail.com and on 082 843 7998.

The Villager • Issue 10 2021 • 13