Daily Dose of Common Sense

A drunk man in Pennsylvania tried to resuscitate a dead opossum. Yes, the man was seen giving mouth-to-mouth to roadkill.

It is hard to believe that this needs to be said, but here are three quick rules.

First, don’t try to revive animals on the side of the road.

Second, any dead animals on the side of the road should be left alone.

Third, if you are so drunk that if you try to revive roadkill, please check yourself into rehab.

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Yesterday was World Water Day. Did you celebrate? No, we didn’t either. But, water is a huge issue globally. Did you know that dirty water kills more people than violence? It’s true, according to the U.N.

We’re not a fan of bottled water, so it was great to find this. “The Story of Bottled Water” is by The Story of Stuff Project, and it should make you think twice about buying that next bottle of water.

We’ve talked about water more than a few times here on DDOCS. (See “Water, Water Everywhere” and “The Great Water Debate: Bottled vs. Tap“.) But this video, while slightly on the hippie side, makes it plain and simple: you’re a rube if you buy bottled water. Unless your community has proven unsafe tap water, purchasing water in plastic bottles is absurd.

Drink tap water and save the money. If you don’t like the taste of your city water, buy a filter.

[Source: BoingBoing]

Talk about a genius invention! The PeePoo bag allows someone to pee and/or poop in it and then bury the bag to use as fertilizer. Now, you might not need this in your suburban town with fancy city-run sewage. But, think about third-world countries who struggle with the human waste issue every day.

For slums in the developing world where human waste is an unregulated nightmare and flying toilets are common practice, the bag provides a means of waterless sewage disposal and organic fertilizer all in one easy, biodegradable step.

The bag has special lining that breaks down the waste and it even kills any bacteria or pathogens inside. Completely brilliant! If only every invention could be this useful. Sort of makes the Flowbee all that more embarrassing….

[Thanks to Denise R. for the link!]

If you’re a reader of this blog, you already know how we feel about cigarette butts.

So, imagine how happy I was today to pass a Japanese tourist discretely smoking and using this product. It’s a tiny portable ashtray with extinguisher. Genius!

Is it any wonder why the Japanese were just named the world’s best tourists?

Dog poop is a problem. Rather, dog owners who don’t pick up after their dogs are a problem. In a big city, dog feces litter the sidewalks and public walkways like land mines. Even in smaller towns, homeowners grumble after finding a “present” on their lawn from a random pooch.

Signs hang in various places to remind dog owners: Please Curb Your Dog. Does everyone know what this means, or is this too antiquated an expression for some dog owners? You would assume it’s self-explanatory, but perhaps our signs need to be a little more direct and lose the politeness: Please Pick Up Your Dog’s Poop Before Moving On.

New York City just got tougher on negligent dog owners. In June, the fine for not picking up after your dog will more than double to $250. Of course, you have to be seen by a policeman for this law to be enforced. But, it may prompt some dog owners to be more diligent.

The majority of pet owners are responsible pooper scoopers. However, a few bad apples are all it takes to ruin the sidewalks for the rest of us. The fines for leaving poop behind can’t be high enough.

Why do smokers get a pass on the littering front? Last time I checked, throwing trash where it doesn’t belong was frowned upon. Yet so many butts lie on our sidewalks, streets, and parks that it is the number one type of litter in America. Don’t these folks remember the Crying Indian from the ’70s?

I see it every day. I live in a city and see folks smoking and tossing, smoking and tossing, all day long. Frequently, the cigarette is still burning. Throwing a cigarette butt on the ground is LITTERING. Why, exactly, are our collective streets, sidewalks, and roads your ashtray?

It is estimated that several trillion cigarette butts are littered throughout the world each year. Are they biodegrable? Not really, according to the research we found.

Various sources have stated that cigarette filters take 18 months to 10 years to degrade. It is safe to say that the cellulose acetate fibers in cigarette filters, like other plastics, are with us for some time after they are discarded.

We’re asked not to litter by fast food companies, by drink companies, by the government, and everyone else who mass produces a product. Why aren’t the tobacco companies doing anything to encourage the proper disposal of their product? We’re not sure. It seems like a fairly simple thing to do, and certainly wouldn’t discourage smokers from lighting up. But, people should know NOT to litter without being told. What, were you raised in a barn?

Oh, P.S.: Props to all the businesses that put out cigarette disposal bins on the sidewalk in front of their doors.