How Rising Dog Ownership and Denser Living Are Turning Uncollected Pet Waste into an Overlooked Environmental Threat

The conversation around sustainability often focuses on plastic, emissions, and recycling. Yet, one of the overlooked environmental hazards is sitting in backyards, parks, sidewalks, and along waterways. With over 40% of U.S. households owning dogs, the volume of pet waste generated every day is substantial. In neighborhoods where space is limited and green areas are shared, the impact of uncollected dog waste becomes a public health and environmental concern. "Dog waste doesn't just melt away," says Nicki Walters, owner of Pooper Trooper. "It runs off into major waterways and pollutes our streams, lakes, and oceans."

Research from environmental agencies has suggested that more than 38% of dog owners do not pick up after their pets. That leaves a remarkable amount of waste on the ground, exposed to rain, shoes, tires, lawn equipment, and storm drains. A single gram of dog waste has been found to contain more than 20 million fecal coliform bacteria, including organisms such as Giardia and Salmonella. "Even if your dog is healthy, dogs are scavenger animals by nature," Walters says. "Their gut carries bacteria that don't break down easily. It doesn't compost properly, and it doesn't get hot enough to kill it."

According to Walters, when left in yards or on sidewalks, that waste can travel with rainfall into drainage systems that empty into local streams and coastal waters. Once there, the nutrients in pet waste can trigger the growth of water weeds and algae. The resulting oxygen depletion can disrupt fish habitats and affect the delicate balance of aquatic ecosystems. Walters notes that even a small amount of contamination has wide effects. "Waste from a single dog can shut down an entire shellfish farm," she says. Communities that depend on fishing, crabbing, and clamming are increasingly aware of what runoff means for both livelihoods and local species.

Pet waste requires sustained high temperatures to neutralize pathogens. In most climates, backyard compost systems never reach those levels. Walters has heard accounts from households that unknowingly fertilized soils with dog waste and later suffered preventable illness. "It just doesn't get hot enough to kill the bacteria," she explains. "People don't realize that even small exposures, kids throwing a ball in a yard, dogs walking through failed cleanups, can transfer it."

The issue is not only one of private yards. Shared parks, trails, apartment complexes, and waterfronts carry the same risks when pet waste is left on the ground. That gap has led community-focused companies to step in with solutions aimed at prevention rather than cleanup after contamination has spread. "We install and maintain pet waste stations in communities and apartments," Walters says. "It gives people the means to pick up after their pets while they are out walking."

One of the models Walters helped develop is an Adopt a Park & Trail program, in which pet waste stations are donated and maintained at no cost to public parks and trail systems. In the past year alone, the team has supplied thousands of bags through these stations. Some of those stations sit beside lakes and streams where risks are higher.

The work extends into homes as well through weekly cleanups, which limit how long waste remains on the ground. She says, "Our teams use non-toxic, biodegradable solutions derived from agricultural byproducts to disinfect and deodorize during collection."

While awareness is growing, there is still a gap between perception and impact. Modern living has placed more dogs in smaller spaces, surrounded by shared land and sensitive ecosystems. Walters says, "The effort comes down to a simple principle. As a dog owner, you have to be responsible for the environment."