Loch Long

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By Angie BrownBBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporter

Taking a headache pill gave George Greer the inspiration to develop a type of poo bag that dissolves in water.

He had been out for a walk at a Scottish loch days before, and had been shocked at how many plastic dog waste bags had washed up onto its banks.

That got the 49-year-old trying to think of a solution to The Problem .

Then the headache medicine started him wondering how the dissolving part of the tablet worked - and if he could use the same Material in bags.

Mr Greer, who lives in Edinburgh, said he had felt " shocked" for days after seeing The Mess while walking at Loch Long in Argyll with his four-year-old Swiss Shepherd, Noah.

" It was really bothering me And Then a few days later when I was taking a dissolving headache pill I had the idea. "

He discovered that The Material , which coated the pills, had been Invented In the 1920s. He then tracked down a manufacturer in China.

He asked his friend, Ka Ho Wong, an archaeologist who could speak Cantonese, to liaise with the supplier to see if he could buy The Material - and if it could be turned into poo bags.

After 12 Months , the poo bags had been created and the prototype had been made.

The two men started up Project Harmless, and Mr Greer has now given up his job as a product designer to run The Company .

'Scottish innovation'

They started selling The Bags in April on the website and have partnered up with the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home and American Express . Project Harmless has now been working with some big department stores in England.

Derek Stewart-Brown, of the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, said: " We try to be as environmentally aware as possible and anything we can do to reduce our waste is important to us.

" I think this is a wonderful Scottish innovation and We Are delighted to support it. "

Environmental activist Laura Young said she had looked into The Product and thought The Project Harmless bags were The Most sustainable on The Market .

" Brands of dog poo bags that are compostable or biodegradable in One Way are better than plastic bags because they don't use fossil fuel products, " She Said .

" However, these bags need really specific conditions to breakdown as intended.

" In Theory they (The Other bags) should work but in practice they're not quite there. "

The Project Harmless bags cost More Than other products, being sold at £15. 50 for 100 bags.

The cheapest poo bags in supermarkets cost about £1. 50 for 100. Mr Greer said these often say they are degradable, but this process takes about 500 Years .

Mr Greer said: " Some People say they are expensive, but cheap bags are evil for The Planet . The government should be banning them.

" Poo bags come at a cost because they devastate The Earth . "

He Said that biodegradable ones need light and oxygen to degrade, which they do not get if they are sent to landfill.

And He Said plant-based compostable bags would only break down in very specific conditions.

" They are often marketed as The Most eco option, but if they are not disposed of properly and instead sent to landfill from a normal bin, then they don't have The Heat or nitrogen to break them down, " He Said .

Mr Greer said this meant that they took decades to break down, while also giving off Methane - a key driver of Global Warming .

His bags are made from non-toxic and microplastic-free Material , and are water-reactive rather than water-resistant.

The liquid in poo causes the bag to lose its structural integrity, and they also disintegrate if they end up in rivers or The Sea .

It is not recommended to flush them down the toilet, as they initially remain intact for several days in Cold Water .

The Bags dissolve more quickly in warm water, but are designed to be robust enough to be left in a bin for several days.

However, after about Six Days they would start to disintegrate.

" There is a lot of government action to stop shopping bags, which can be recycled, but you can't recycle a poo bag, " added Mr Greer.

" This is really exciting and I really believe in it.

" We Are told now not to use plastic shopping bags just once at the supermarket, but nobody talks about dog poo bags and the effect of them on The Environment . "

Source of news: bbc.com