City-wide dog waste diversion study: Victoria, BC

Hey, friends of Environment and Sustainability! It’s been almost 8 months that my team and I have been putting our heart and soul into this project and we thought it was time to share what we’ve been up to. Our project was developed to create a strategy to reduce the volume of dog waste entering the Hartland Landfill by finding a sustainable alternative for disposal. Specifically, we’re looking at the Dallas Road dog park for the feasibility of implementing a biogas digester to harvest the methane produced by the dog waste and the possibility of harnessing that energy. We’ve been in contact with the CRD to obtain statistics on the number of registered dogs in the area as well as how much waste is being produced and deposited into the landfill. The project aligns with the City of Victoria’s new Climate Leadership Plan which calls for 100% use of renewable energy for city operations and an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2007 levels by 2050. We’ve visited the Dallas Road park to survey dog owners on their perception of dog waste disposal, as well as posting our survey within the Victoria Dog Owners Facebook group. We’ve had an amazing return on survey responses and are thrilled with the great ideas and comments owners have been leaving us. We’re looking forward to compiling the final report and being able to provide a solution to the dog waste disposal problem in Greater Victoria. Stay tuned!