Cartoon by Joshua Kim
Baylor has an absolutely gorgeous campus. Here, students enjoy lush green grass, resolute red brick buildings and perfectly manicured gardens and hedges that are always brimming with color. While we enjoy all of the perks that come along with the campus aesthetic (cute Instagram photos, scenic views and lots of space to run), we do not enjoy being accosted by the smell and appearance of dog poop.
Owning a dog in college seems to be a growing trend in recent years, and along with that comes the chance of a leaving a mess. Letting your dog roam free is all well and good, but simply leaving the droppings around campus for students to walk through is annoying and irresponsible. Not only does it leave a pungent smell, but it also is an inconvenience to pedestrians and bikers who are heading to class. Nobody wants dog poop on the bottom of their shoe or stuck in their bike treads.
Implementing “cleanup stations” around campus would quickly solve these problems. These stations would provide doggie bags and trash cans in one convenient package for students to use when walking their dogs. Terra Bound Solutions produces a Sentry Dog Waste Station, a stand that is planted in the ground and includes an easy-pull doggie bag dispenser and an attached trash can specifically meant for dog droppings. On their website, the customizable station is sold for $198, which may vary depending on the additions you choose to apply to your purchase. We suggest that Baylor looks into purchasing several of these containers for students so their pooches don’t leave less-than-desirable ‘presents’ for people to step in.
Some may argue that the cost of purchase and placing the stations will be disproportionate to the problem at hand. Our argument is that students pay around $50,000 a year to attend Baylor university, and Baylor is in the process of further beautifying our campus with new facilities. If Baylor can afford to build a $250 million football stadium and a $99 million business school, allocating a few hundred dollars of miscellaneous funds to reduce and possibly eliminate the dog poop problem is not impossible.
Others may wonder if putting these stands will actually encourage students to clean up after their pets. Bringing these inventions to Baylor may not completely end the dog poop problem, but having this option will at least bring awareness to the issue, and could help dog owners or other students make this campus cleaner with a few simple steps.
As Baylor students, it is our responsibility to make sure our campus stays clean and beautiful. With the school’s implementation of dog waste stations, dogs and dog owners can walk through campus freed from the guilt of not having a proper waste receptacle for doggie doo and students can feel they’ve made Baylor a prettier (and better smelling) place to be.
