Poo-free pavements & parks through picking up others’ dogs’ poo

 

 
1.  Introduction 
Dogs are wonderful, dog poo left unpicked up is, as Keep Britain Tidy says: “....the most unacceptable and offensive type of litter on our streets. Our research shows that dog fouling is the issue the public are most concerned about."

The transformational improvement in dog fouling since dog owners began picking up after their dogs has been one of the outstanding triumphs of the litter campaign and dog walking communities. Nevertheless, the residual problem is still one that needs resolving. There is still a need for a paradigm shift in the way the problem is thought about and tackled. Those of us with dogs should pick up any poo we see, because it’s the right thing to do (like picking up crisp packets and other litter), because we’ve got the kit and the stomach for it, and because most of us sometimes “miss a dollop”. It’s impossible to watch our dogs every second of a walk, especially if they are off the lead, so picking up other poo makes up for times we inadvertently don’t pick up. I carried out an informal survey on two Facebook dog group pages, and one respondent commented: “In case one of my dogs has done a poo when I’m out of sight and have missed it ~ I feel that picking up someone else’s redresses the balance a bit.”
 
This quote from a clearly “responsible” person illustrates why there’s a need to move away from the idea that there are “irresponsible owners” and the rest of us. The research evidence base shows this isn’t the case (e.g. Westgarth et al, 2019) and more of us with dogs need to up our game by picking up dog poo even when it wasn’t deposited by our own dogs. This would considerably improve the problem, alongside other essential elements such as sufficient bins and increased awareness that we should pick up everywhere including in fields and forests. Always and everywhere. (Don’t get me started on “stick and flick”, where confusion, ambiguity and the excuse not to pick up elsewhere is created by, for example, signs in some forests encouraging people to use a stick to flick the poo when visitors are deeper in the forest.)
 
 
2.  Aims of Job Done 
The primary aim of Job Done is to substantially and sustainably reduce the amount of unbinned dog poo, by more people with dogs picking up and binning any dog poo we see. This is clearly desirable in its own right, and should also help prevent unnecessary new restrictions on dog exercising, for instance dogs having to be kept on leads or being excluded from some areas. Caerphilly council, for example, have recently banned dogs from all council sports pitches, as reported on Wales 247 website (2021), and I understand the exasperation that both culminates in that decision and arises from it.
 
I prefer non-confrontational approaches to behaviour change and the gentle development of Job Done would avoid the tension that arises from more controversial efforts aimed at combating the dog litter such as spraying chalk circles around poo litter. Burnham on Sea are one council that have engaged in this (2020(, and the initial results of this sort of visible admonishment can be impressive: Slough Council report that spraying action reduced instances of dog fouling by over 72% (Keep Wales Tidy, 2016)
But there is no evidence that the improvements are sustained and I believe that the collateral damage created is unnecessary and harmful. By leaving the poo in place there is no positive message about bagging and binning. Instead there is minimally a subliminal message that ‘graffiti’ is OK (the council with its cans of spray chalk). Also, piles of poo with large chalk circles around them are very ugly, compounding rather than relieving the problem. How weird would it be if community litter pickers went around spray painting around discarded packets of crisps, Big Mac wrappers and Coke cans rather than thoughtfully picking these up and binning them?
 
3.  Are ‘irresponsible owners’ to blame? 
The dominant theory behind many dog fouling campaigns is that this anti-social behaviour is the fault of ‘irresponsible owners’. Recent research by Dr Carri Westgarth, canine expert at University of Liverpool, and colleagues proposes that this distinction between ‘responsible and irresponsible owner’ is unhelpful (2019). It is too binary and puts the focus on an apparent small minority of people who stubbornly and selfishly refuse ever to pick up after their dog. Dr Westgarth says: “… it could be argued the type of owner who knowingly seriously violates the perceived guidelines of responsible dog ownership are at least rare, even mythical.” (Westgarth et al, 2019).
 
The ‘good/bad’ model also overlooks some interesting reasons people give for not bagging and binning. In research by Lowe et al, they note that: “A fifth of respondents stated that they had bagged dog faeces but not placed it in a bin. Stated reasons for this behaviour included forgetfulness, changes to the route and as a protest (e.g., against a lack of dog waste bins). Furthermore there was a reported high level of uncertainty regarding the legitimacy of disposing of bagged dog faeces in litter bins.” (2014).
 
The Behavioural Insights Team’s research on littering also suggests moving away from a focus on ‘irresponsible owners’ “… to design an effective behavioural change intervention or campaign among litterers, it is best to start with the “low hanging fruit”, i.e. people who litter only occasionally and who are ready to change. With time, as these people stop littering, the heavier users will see their behaviour becoming more unacceptable and abnormal and, most importantly, will be ready to change, as their threshold for change (i.e. the minimal required number of people around them not littering and disapproving of it) will be reached as well.” (Kolodko et al, 2016).
 
Similarly, a Zero Waste Scotland review of littering behaviour and anti-lifter policies states even more boldly: “All of this suggests that the concept of ‘litterers’ may be a misleading one. A dichotomy between ‘people who litter’ and ‘people who do not litter’ may not be helpful in tackling the littering problem – not to mention the fact that ‘non-litterers’ may well not exist. This is reflected in the segmentation models reviewed, none of which contain a clear ‘non-litterer’ segment. Given the variation in possible definitions of what constitutes litter, and the opportunities for excuses and denial, it seems likely that the vast majority of people do litter some items in some social and material contexts – whether or not they themselves consider it littering.” (Zero Waste Scotland, 2014).
 
There are many circumstances in which people who are highly responsible, civic-minded, environmentally concerned and strongly opposed to littering may nevertheless inadvertently not pick up after our dogs. The cartoon at the beginning of the article neatly illustrates one such situation, with the human conscientiously picking up after one dog and not noticing that her other dog is pooing - and this is with dogs on the lead. As soon as dogs are off the lead, they are potentially out of sight and may be fouling. If the human is distracted (eg on the phone, exchanging pleasantries with other humans and dogs, scanning the environment for potential risks etc etc), they may be ‘missing a dollop’. An autumn scenario familiar to many of us with smaller dogs is when we are carefully watching them do a poo in a lovely leafy spot, and then are simply unable to locate it as it is so effectively camouflaged. Or increasingly desperately rummaging through coat pockets, jeans pockets, backpack to find the poo bags we were sure were in there…..
 
However. I feel that, sadly, there are indeed also irresponsible dog walkers, and it is hard to interpret bags hanging on bushes as anything other than selfish, lazy and inconsiderate behaviour whatever justification the offenders may give. Until now, the emphasis has been almost entirely on “irresponsible owners”, rather than looking at the responsibility for those of us, who try to be entirely conscientious. So there are two issues. Firstly, the “feckless“, irresponsible, minority. And then the “fallible“, well-intentioned majority. Job Done addresses the fallible, and seeks to prevent the escalating damage partly caused by the former.
 
 
4.  What has been tried? 
All sorts of attempts have been made to tackle the residual problem with dog fouling, beyond the obvious fines and other statutory controls and penalties. Many have had considerable short-term success in the areas where they have been piloted, but the challenge remains to find an equivalent sustainable, national approach to the hugely successful “bag and bin it”, exemplified by the fabulous (no such thing as a….) “poo fairy” campaign.
 
The Big Scoop was an excellent, practical project from the Dogs Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, “in partnership with six local authorities and park managers to establish dog walking routes in six parks and coastal walking routes across the UK using signage, maps, and colour-coded route markers. The intervention aims to encourage dog owners to dispose of their dog’s waste by nudging them along specific routes where bins are provided.”  (Dogs Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, 2017).
 
Another partnership between the Dogs Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, called Walk This Way, also had the practical elements of popular dog walking routes having a makeover to include more bins and clear signage to find them – resulting in a 38% decrease in dog fouling over the four week trial period.
 
Green Dog Walker is a popular community project, with delightful visuals, encouraging people to pledge to pick up after their dog. Other initiatives range from the expensive (e.g. DNA testing) or divisive (eg naming and shaming) to even tracking down piles of poo and sticking a flag in them! Another Keep Britain Tidy campaign, We’re Watching You, achieved results with a more confrontational approach of market-tested, glow in the dark staring eye posters.  
 
 
5.  Job done 
Job Done could be a sustainable, low-cost, national approach which builds on the magnificent success of dog owners’ bagging and binning. It would involve creating a shift in the perception of dog fouling as being the fault of ‘irresponsible owners’ to recognising that most people whose dogs are off-lead are likely to sometimes ‘miss a dollop’ and we should pick up others’ missed dollops to offset this inadvertent littering, thereby “paying it forward”.
 
We should encourage and enable dogs’ humans to pick up any poo they see. I do it, and others in our village also do so. I find it no hassle. I know I sometimes inadvertently ‘miss a dollop’ and it makes me feel actively good about contributing to the village I love. I see it, bag it and bin it. Job done! My hero and role model is the humorous author David Sedaris who diligently goes on marathon litter picking expeditions around his home area in Sussex. In response to the honour of having a local garbage truck named after him, he wrote: ‘When I first moved to Horsham district three years ago I was struck by the area’s outstanding natural beauty but I was also struck by all the rubbish that people leave lying around the roads. I’m angry at the people who throw these things out their car windows, but I’m just as angry at the people who walk by it every day. I say pick it up yourself. Do it enough and you might one day get a garbage truck named after you. It’s an amazing feeling.’ https://www.westsussextoday.co.uk/news/environment/south-downs-litter-picker-has-truck-named-after-him-2275777
 
Although I don’t have aspirations for so much as a poo bin being named after me, I very much agree with Sedaris that picking up any litter, human or animal, is deeply satisfying. Along with Keep Britain Tidy, other agencies encourage local groups and individuals to carry out litter-picking, using social media to recruit, inform and validate these environmental improvements. Paws on Plastic’s Facebook page has this delightful description: Members of this group pledge to pick up 2 pieces of litter while out walking our beloved hounds. Simply pick items up using a spare poo bag and take it home to empty, into your recycling bin if possible, saving the bag to use again. Post a lovely photo of your dog on this page to celebrate your efforts & spread the word! Pristine Parishes provide free litter-picking equipment and help with co-ordinating twice weekly litter picks in a local area.
 
Litter-picking as exercise has even become a thing – plogging. Originating in Scandinavia, Keep Britain Tidy had a creative partnership with Marriott Hotels to publicise this multiply beneficial activity and wrote on their website: Amongst the usual plastic bottles and food packaging, the team found everything from a nappy to a hub cap. Leaving the common a cleaner place, everyone felt good (and fitter) by doing good.
 
The Job Done approach needs to be piloted, perhaps testing different messages and incentives, and also the impact of publicising that dog walkers are picking up ‘missed dollops’ compared with not publicising. Testing in different types of environments (such as urban, rural, wealthy, deprived) would also be beneficial.
 
There are a wide range of organisations, departments and companies with a strong interest in reducing dog fouling (such as dog, litter, environment, farming, wildlife, tourism, walking agencies) whose involvement would strengthen the implementation of positive findings from the project.
 
6.  Survey 
In July 2019 I posted a message on the very active Many Tears Rescue (MTR) Facebook group page asking for people to complete an online survey about dog fouling. I also posted on our village Facebook page, which produced some responses, but the majority of the 642 were from MTR. Their members also generously provided 185 additional comments on the Facebook page, in addition to those on the linked Survey Monkey.

 
I called the survey Lovelier Locally. Its purpose was for me to get a sense of whether more people might be prepared to pick up after others’ dogs and what would help or hinder this. Part of the ‘informal’ nature of this exploration is that the MTR group are probably unrepresentative of people with dogs as they are not only willing to take rescue dogs, but MTR works particularly with disabled and challenging dogs. It is also astonishing that of the respondents, 97% were female! This probably reflects that the Facebook page contributors are mainly women who have adopted MTR dogs and enjoy posting poignant photos such as the one I used to illustrate my survey request. There was a more balanced spread of ages, although respondents were mainly in their 40s-70s, and of where people lived in terms of urban/rural, size of location etc.
 
I was very grateful for all the responses with people raising interesting points, and providing depth and colour to my tentative concept. Because the aim of Job Done is for more and not necessarily all people with dogs to pick up after others’ dogs, the responses made me feel entirely optimistic that a skilful campaign could achieve this, and that this could be sustainable in the way that most poo continues to be picked up by dogs’ humans. For example, about 60% of respondents said they already always or sometimes pick up others’ dogs’ poo – that’s brilliant, even given this is an unusually kind group of people.
 
Respondents gave an interesting range of reasons why they do pick up others’ dogs’ poo:

• Responsibility to offset: “I'm aware we can all miss a dollop sometimes.” “I call it a karma poo in case I’ve missed one of my dogs doing one”.
• Risk of getting unfairly blamed: “I don't want people thinking it was me who left it there”. Several people mentioned they pick up from other dogs if it’s near where they are picking up from their own. I was intrigued by this and then came across this explanation: “I’ve picked up when it’s been near to my dog’s poo as I’d hate the thought of someone thinking I’d left it!”
• Risk of severe local restrictions on dogs: “I always pick up others dog poo on our sports fields or we are in danger of being banned”
• Self-esteem and civic duty: “Good deed for the day.” “Happy to help.” “Because it's the right thing to do”.
• Social norms: “Seeing other people doing it.” “If we all did a little extra that would help a great deal” “We should all lead by example”
• Anti-littering: “I hate the fact litter could harm wildlife.” “Regular beach user- always pick up a bag of litter when we leave. Teaches the children to be responsible”
• Location: “If outside my house”, “It’s better than someone’s child taking it home on their shoes”
• Who is at risk from harm: ” If it was on paths or grass used by children, including my grandchildren”. “If my dogs are trying to eat it or it's in my / my dogs path”
• Empathy for people with difficulties picking up: "Maybe champions that can help others. There are often elderly people that struggle with picking up after their dogs."

 
Digging deeper into this, the next (open-ended text) question, was: What, if anything, would make you more likely to pick up poo from other people's dogs? Respondents suggested more bins, nicer bins, more frequently emptied bins, free poo bags and gloves; more and heavier fines; CCTV and other kit. There was again particular concern about dog poo lying around in or near areas kids frequent such as parks, schools, playgrounds etc. (And as mentioned above, Caerphilly council has now banned dogs on sports pitches.) People are more willing to pick up from these areas, in line with the Zero Waste Scotland point above, about littering having a strong contextual basis rather than being a binary people who do/don’t litter.
 
The question of what respondents think would encourage people in general to pick up after others’ dogs, yielded the following responses:
Nothing: 38%
More information about the harm caused by poo lying around: 35%
Recognition for making your locality lovelier: 24%
Feeling saintly: 13%
Payment: 11%
 
However, the question was not well thought through by me, as it overlaps too much with the question about what motivates the respondents themselves. I also regret not including as an option what might be an especially motivating, element – free poo bags and related accessories.
 
Still, there were again really interesting comments and as with responses to other questions, they were very consistent with the analysis of littering described by Zero Waste Scotland (2014). For example, motivations for proper disposal of litter include the personal and the social. Personal motivations cited in the Rapid Review of Evidence (Zero Waste Scotland, 2014) included:

• Sense of personal responsibility for litter, and for the physical space
• Pride in local area or neighbourhood
• Respect for others
• Personal values and norms that are against littering
• Sense of guilt or embarrassment from littering
• Fear of the health impacts of litter

Social motivations included:

• Injunctive social norm of littering being unacceptable
• Descriptive norm of other people not littering
• Being in the company of ‘respectable’ people
• Setting an example for children
• Immediate presence of peer group (for older age groups)

Across the Job Done survey there were responses with all sorts of creative ideas. For instance, respondents suggested:

• “Nationwide 'pick up a poo' day once a month like a competition as to who could poo pick the most and win a prize or something”
• “Maybe by being part of a local altruistic squad with good community spirit who tackles mess in the environment. We have volunteer clean-up mornings regularly where I live, such drives are well supported here.”
• “Anyone buying a puppy should have to go to puppy socialisation classes where it can be promoted”
• “Perhaps a social media page for people who pick up others dog poo so they can show everyone how great they are?”
• “A type of ‘lending library’ of litter pickers / gloves etc. - some of the offending bags are left in a truly gruesome state and I wouldn’t touch them with bare hands, though I frequently pick up other litter”
• “if we had people who liaised with dog walkers too, talking to them face to face and handing out free bags at the end of a convo.”

7.  Social marketing and behavioural insights’ principles that align with Job Done

​Firstly, there is a strong body of evidence which shows that people are less likely to litter in spaces that are relatively free of litter, some of which are cited in Rangoni and Jager (2017). The concept of people with dogs picking up others’ dogs’ poo is a more specific version of the well-established model of community litter-picking and indeed of individuals simply picking up and binning bits of litter they come across.
Secondly, some of the core elements of Patterson et al’s Influencer (2007) could be harnessed, alongside other features to prevent dog fouling, such as bins. They describe six sources of influence, which help me describe my own reasons for picking up ‘missed dollops’:

1. Personal motivation – do you want to do it? (I now actively enjoy bagging and binning all poo I see, as it is satisfying and adds a ‘treasure hunt’ element to our dog walks!)
2. Personal ability – do you think you can do it? (I have developed the stomach to do it but at first had to steel myself)
3. Social motivation – who is motivating you to do it? (David Sedaris and dog walkers who do pick up from others)
4. Social ability – who can help you do it? (other villagers also pick up abandoned poo)
5. Structural motivation – what tangible or practical things encourage you to do it? (the main one is seeing the difference when a path, field, pavement etc is suddenly poo-free through my simple actions)
6. Structural ability – what practical help is there for you to do it? (bins all round the village and buying bio-degradable poo bags)

 
Thirdly, the low-cost, low-hassle nature of the concept is in keeping with the Behavioural Insights Team’s EAST model (2014):
1. Make it Easy – it only requires carrying a few more poo bags with us to pick up from others’ dogs. Some councils already provide free poo bags, on dog walking routes and/or from their offices
2. Make it Attractive – in contrast to ugly or aggressive messaging and other confrontational techniques
3. Make it Social – my first introduction to the idea of picking up from other dogs was in London when there was a risk that dogs would have unnecessary restrictions placed on them in our local park. So a Facebook group was set up (it is still going strong, about 15 years on) and a very effective community Let’s Clean Up the Park was organised. After that introduction to picking up from others’ dogs, I kept going.
4. Make it Timely – ‘doing the right thing’ is more likely to happen when we are reminded and helped at the relevant moment. In this case, not while sitting on our sofa at home but out on walks with our dogs. Helpful factors would need to be tested such as whether it is preferable for the picking up from others’ dogs to be widely known or more low-key; or if it makes a difference to provide ‘poo ninjas’, as my friend Nikki calls me, with free poo bags and other accessories.
 
Job Done has a positive emphasis, about doing the right thing by picking up other dogs’ poo to off-set our own ‘missed dollops’, rather than emphasising (and inadvertently reinforcing) the problem of dog poo being left unbinned. This follows the Behavioural Insight Team’s advice that initiatives should: “show that most people perform the desired behaviour. Describing what most people do in a particular situation encourages others to do the same. Similarly, policy makers should be wary of inadvertently reinforcing a problematic behaviour by emphasising its high prevalence.” Behavioural Insight Team (2014).
 
8.  Risks 
There is of course a risk that even an excellent campaign, rooted in social marketing and behavioural science expertise might result in not many more people with dogs picking up others’ dogs’ poo. As two respondents to our survey commented:
“Good luck encouraging people to pick up others dog poo. I am happy to do my dogs poo but not keen on other poo. Particularly when out walking and having to carry many filled poo bags”
And the succinct:
“Icky”
 
The more concerning risk was also well-put by a respondent:
“I’ll pick it up if I think someone might step in it or if the poo is near to where my dog pooped but I think it might make the careless owners think that the poo fairy really exists!”
Intriguingly, someone has confronted this conundrum head-on. The BBC website (Nov 2021) reports that:
A man is dressing up as a giant bearded "poo fairy" in an effort to highlight the importance of clearing up after your dog. Jason Alexander's alter ego, Morris the dog poo fairy, has been walking around Ipswich in his pink and gold outfit, with accompanying set of wings. Mr Alexander goes on regular litter-picking walks but came up with the new look after finding a lot of dog mess. He said his eccentric costume got people talking and raised awareness. "What I'm hoping to do is just say thank you to all the wonderful dog owners who do bag their dog poo and pop it in a bin - that's absolutely brilliant and gives me a lot less work to do," he said. "Hopefully I can encourage some of the other dog owners to do the same."
 
Having many more dog walkers picking up any poo we see wouldn’t, in fact, suggest there is a poo fairy, any more than people picking up food packaging litter suggests there is a Big Mac Wrapper fairy.
 
I contacted Prof Daniel Read, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School and co-author of Using behavioural science to reduce littering (2018) about this risk and he replied: "I think that being seen picking up waste is more likely to encourage others to do so than to encourage free riding. So if those who do not pick up see others doing so, they will see that it is the ‘norm’ and want to do so themselves. I doubt that those who are currently picking it up will conclude they no longer have to bother. To be absolutely sure you would have to test any new system, but I am pretty confident your scheme would not backfire."
 
One of the key objectives of developing the Job Done concept would be to test any potential risks of the approach and create strategies for avoiding and mitigating negative effects.

---

​We have begun piloting the approach in the Cotswolds, and the immediate effect in a small village was very positive. Comments on the village Whatsapp group included: “Definitely a big improvement, noticed finally after a long walk so .” “Definitely better on path up to [the church].”
 
We have also got a very welcome endorsement from Rory Cellan-Jones, the former BBC Tech Correspondent & adopter of the hyper-anxious rescue dog Sophie, who tweeted to his 350,000 followers:

9.  Conclusion 

A survey respondent neatly covered many of the issues when they wrote: “My dog eats dog poo so I am motivated by that but I also recognise that we have all probably missed our dogs doing at least one poo or been caught without a bag on occasions so with that in mind it makes sense just to pick it up if you see it. I also think it gives all dog owners a bad name when there is so much dog poo around and I don’t want to be hated by non dog owning people.”
 
I am looking forward to a time when most people walking dogs are aware of our responsibility to offset poos inadvertently not picked up by us when our dogs are off lead. People would carry a few extra poo bags with them on walks (some provided by local councils and community groups) and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing places they live in and visit looking instantly better through their actions. There would be a national shift from what one respondent described like this: “I hadn't thought about doing it before today, I usually just tut!”
 
People with dogs would see a missed poo and without tutting, or moaning about it on Facebook, with no sticking and flicking - they pick it up, bung it in the bin, feel great. Job Done!
 
 
 
References
 
BBC (2021) Ipswich dog poo fairy tackles town's pet mess
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-59133490
 
Behavioural Insights Team (2014)
https://www.bi.team/publications/east-four-simple-ways-to-apply-behavioural-insights/
 
https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/new-crakdown-on-anti-social-dog-fouling-launches-in-burnham-and-highbridge/
 
Dogs Trust https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/latest/issues-campaigns/dog-fouling/the%20big%20scoop%20report%20-%20december%202017.pdf 
 
Falkirk Council https://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/bins-rubbish-recycling/rubbish-litter/dog-fouling/green-dog-walkers.aspx  
 
Forestry Commission https://www.forestryengland.uk/dog-code
 
Harris L., Hargreaves J., Tehan R., Hutton J. and Lee Paris L. “The Big Scoop: a novel intervention to encourage human behaviour change to reduce dog fouling in public places” (2019) Journal of Litter and Environmental Quality Vol. 3, No. 1 pp. 24-30.
 
Keep Britain Tidy - Dog fouling https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/local-authorities/reduce-litter/dog-fouling
 
Keep Britain Tidy Walk our Way campaign
 https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/news/walk-way-our-award-winning-campaign
 
Keep Britain Tidy – plogging partnership
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/news/plogging-good?gclid=CjwKCAiAp8iMBhAqEiwAJb94z68bykE5BoZf10yMpnNxf4vfwd-5mY69YUUJVAzdJLLypRNnrGCXIBoCW78QAvD_BwE
 
Keep Britain Tidy – We’re watching you campaign
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/local-authorities/reduce-litter/dog-fouling/solutions/were-watching-you 
 
Keep Wales Tidy Dog Fouling (2016)
 
Kennel Club https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/about-us/campaigns/access-for-owners-and-dogs/advice-for-local-authorities/
 
Kolodko J., Read D., Taj U. (2016).Using behavioural insights to reduce littering in the UK.
 http://www.cleanupbritain.org/WBS-Report-for-CLUB.pdf 
 
Lowe, C.N., Williams, K.S., Jenkinson, S. and Toogood, M. (2014) “Environmental and social impacts of domestic dog waste in the UK: investigating barriers to behavioural change in dog walkers”, International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp.331–347
 
Patterson K., Grenny J., Maxfield D., McMillan R., Switzler A. (2007) Influencer: The Power to Change Anything McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
 
Paws on Plastic https://www.facebook.com/pawsonplastic
 
Pristine Parishes https://eden.enterprises/
 
Rangoni R., Wander Jager W. (2017), “Social Dynamics of Littering and Adaptive Cleaning Strategies Explored Using Agent-Based Modelling” Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Vol. 20, issue 2, 1
 
Wales 247 https://www.wales247.co.uk/caerphilly-bans-dogs-from-all-council-sports-pitches
West Sussex County Times 28th July 2014 “South Downs litter picker has truck named after him.” https://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/environment/south-downs-litter-picker-has-truck-named-after-him-2275777 Westgarth C., Christley R.M., Marvin  G.,& Perkins E. (2019) “The Responsible Dog Owner: The Construction of Responsibility”, Anthrozoös, 32:5, pp. 631-646
 
Zero Waste Scotland Rapid evidence review of littering behaviour and anti-litter policies (2014)
https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/Rapid%20Evidence%20Review%20of%20Littering%20Behaviour%20and%20Anti-Litter%20Policies.pdf