Dog poo campaign cleans up at national award ceremony

Tuesday 19 April 2016

A local campaign to clean up dog poo on our streets has scooped a national marketing award.

Eco-Active's ‘Proud of you for picking up my poo’ campaign launched last summer saw an 88% reduction in dog mess in the Island’s hotspots and took top spot at the National Chartered Institute of Marketing Excellence Awards.

Environment Minister Steve Luce said: “This is an example of how a small-budget campaign can make a tangible difference. ‘Proud of You’ captured the community’s imagination in a humorous way, and encouraged people to change their behaviour to improve Jersey’s beautiful environment for all of us.”

Dog poo makes all of us a bit barking mad, especially if we have the misfortune to step in it, but picking it all up is also a costly job for the States - their parks and gardens teams were picking up around 15 piles of poo and day and handing out 1,000 emergency dog poo bags every month before the campaign started.

But they didn't have such a messy job during the ten week campaign - wardens recorded not just a reduction but less poo than the previous week meaning that people had picked up and removed poo that was not their dog’s and that had previously been sprayed and recorded.

Queens Valley Reservoir went from 37 to zero incidents of dog mess, which was praised by walkers and Jersey Water who own the site and two urban hotspots with 12 incidents of dog poo decreased to zero.

Lots got behind the campaign - 100 people got out of bed for the 'Big Poo Pick Up' at the worst hotspot and filled almost 300 bags with mess that is dangerous to humans and other animals too, full of diseases and parasites and can cause abortion in cattle. 

Eco Active's Programme manager Jane Burns said: "We’re extremely proud to have had our campaign recognised at a national level. The difference it made around the Island last summer was enormous. Some hotspots saw an 88% reduction in the amount of dog mess. Sadly it is one of those issues that requires continual ‘nagging’ so we are all set to launch again this year.

“One of the reasons the campaign was so successful was that it was a team effort – a lot of people and organisations were involved. Among these were Freedom Media, who worked with us to make sure the campaign was informative and friendly. It’s down to this extensive team work that the Department of the Environment has achieved this special accolade.”

Director for Environmental Policy at the Department of the Environment, Dr Louise Magris said: “Islanders value their high quality environment, which underpins so much of Island life. The eco-active team are committed and dedicated to building a more sustainable Jersey.

"They work hard, often behind the scenes, to help people live a greener life, at home, work and play. The campaign was up against strong competition at national level and I’m delighted their work has been recognised, and will continue to go from strength to strength.”

You can find out more about the campaign here.