$6.15 [BioBags Dog-Waste Bags]

It's unavoidable.

It's poop.

It's the least appealing part of pet ownership. 

And now, it's Hurricane Irene, headed straight for New York.

We moved into our current first floor apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in early July.  This apartment is in a FEMA Zone A flood zone.  The National Weather Service is currently predicting, as one of the consequences of Hurricane Irene, a 30-40 percent probability of at least two feet of storm surge for Greenpoint.  (Want to learn more about storm surge? I just did.)  Whether the interior of our apartment will flood or not is one thing, but I am fairly certain that even tropical storm conditions will cause our backyard to flood.  And do you know what that means? 

A sea of floating dog turds.

It's true.  Every time I see a map of Hurricane Irene's projected path, I think about it:  A sea of floating dog turds.

This is an even more horrifying prospect since we just spent ten days with Cheska, the wild hairless puppy, who went to her forever home yesterday.  Never have I known a dog to bestow upon the world (or my backyard) such frequent, massive and moist poops.  So, in addition to buying bottled water and non-perishable food, my personal hurricane preparation this evening will include picking up a crapload of crap from our backyard.  Because I can't think of many things worse than a sea of floating dog turds.  Hurricane Irene ruined all my furniture.  Oh really, I almost drowned in a SEA OF FLOATING DOG TURDS.

Which brings me to BioBags Dog-Waste Bags. 

(As an aside, if you are a dog owner who is using non-biodegradable plastic bags to pick up your dog's poop, then I dislike you only slightly less than I dislike dog owners who don't pick up their dog's poop at all.)  BioBags get the unpleasant but inevitable job done without harming the environment.  They are made from cornstarch (from GMO free certified corn) and are 100% biodegradable and 100% compostable.  They come in small, for a Betelgeuse- or a Lulu-sized poop, or large, for a Cheska-sized dump.  You can also get them on a roll, which is some people's thing but not my thing.

$6.15 to enact significantly less damage on the environment and to avoid worst-case hurricane scenarios in your backyard.

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But in all seriousness, batten down the hatches, everyone, because it's better safe than sorry.  For pet owners who are in the projected path of Hurricane Irene, tips from the Humane Society here and from the National Hurricane Center here.  And New York pet owners, Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't forget about you: the New York City Office of Emergency Management’s website offers detailed advice here.  Stay safe and keep your pets safe, too!