Recycling and Dog Poo (Grumpy old woman)

Some observations for Atherstone Council:  The glass bottle bank near the Atherstone council offices had finally been emptied - after over a week of the 'pods' being stuffed to the gunnels and empty bottles littered around it. So we have managed to clear some space on the front deck of empties (mostly of the red variety), it was getting quite embarrassing, and we had resorted to masking the recycling bag with some bin bags.  There's not alot of room on a boat to keep anything uncessary, but we try and recycle as much as we can.  After storing things for any length of time, then trying to dispose of it responsibly, it's extremely annoying when the recycling  bins aren't emptied regularly - especially outside the council offices.  Rant number one finished ...

And on to dog poo...  After being on the boat a few years now, and visiting many different towns up and down the country,  I think Atherstone has to be the worst I've come across for people not picking up their dog poo.  I'm not just talking about the towpath, which dog owners see as a linear toilet for their pets - even up and down the main street, dollops outside shops, enevitably with people's foot prints in it - disgraceful.  Lord knows there's enough dog poo bins here, but they obviously don't know what they're for.  I know councils are cutting back dramatically, but one thing this town is lacking is a Dog Warden.  A few £50 on-the-spot fines should do the trick.  Word soon gets around, and people then start picking up.  If people refuse to pay, then it goes to court, with a maximum fine of £1000.  A Dog Warden in Atherstone would certainly pay for itself very quickly! I'm running out of dog poo bags, after offering bags to those people who don't seem to carry any poo bags with them when dog walking - and I don't even have a dog.

That's it folks - rant over -  I'm off to clean the bottom of my shoes again.