Williamsburg Park Gets New Composting Stations For Dog Waste
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- A state park in Brooklyn has a fetching new idea to help dog owners clean up and recycle at the same time.
In Williamsburg East River State Park, it's a case of waste not, want not.
"I think it fits in with the Williamsburg lifestyle," resident Lee Serel told CBS2's Scott Rapoport.
When it comes to dogs in the area, priority one seems to be all about number two. Forget about the old days of picking up after your pup with a plastic bag or glove.
The future of poop procurement is two smart-looking, cedar wood stations housing dog waste buckets, which are actually compost bins. Hip Brooklynites are encouraged to place their dog droppings after hoovering them up with park-provided scoopers or environmentally friendly brown bags.
"I want to know what happens when it leaves here," resident Amy Pisanky said.
"Dog waste in and of itself doesn't have any value... so we decided to create value out of it by upgrading it to fertilizer," Leslie Wright, of the New York State Parks Department, said.
NYS park officials said they'll recycle the refuse and use it as fertilizer for gardens in the park. There is, however, the potential of the smell factor.
"It's gonna stink," one local said.
But park officials said they've got it covered by sprinkling sawdust on the discarded dung, which they said helps mitigate the smell and facilitate the composting process.
"It's better than putting the poop in plastic bags, throwing them out and they go to a landfill somewhere," Serel said.
The parks department told CBS2 the dog waste stations are part of a pilot project and that the start-up cost about $2,000.
