Picking Up Poop

One of the downsides of dog ownership, I think, is that you have to pick up their poop.  With cats, yes, you have to clean the litter box.  But cats are small; their poop is small.  And you don't have to scoop it every time they do it.  Plus, my cats poop outside some of the time, and I don't even know where they usually do it, but I do not normally have to pick it up in my yard.  I think they go off and bury it somewhere.

But with dogs, when they poop in the yard, you have to pick it up at some point or else your yard is full of poop and it smells and you accidentally step in it when you have to walk through the grass for something.  And when you walk the dog, you have to pick it up right then.  In most places, there are actually laws now that say you have to pick up after your dog, but even if there aren't laws where you live, your neighbors will be unhappy if you don't pick up after your dog, and it's just the polite thing to do.

So.  Picking up poop.  Did you know that you can buy plastic bags for that purpose at pet stores?  I can't imagine why you would spend money on poop bags, but apparently people do.  I was thinking I would just use the plastic bags you get at the grocery store.  I have a huge pile of them in one of my kitchen cabinets.  I use them when I scoop the litter box.

But I have been taking my own cloth bags to the grocery store most of the time lately.  Sometimes I forget and then I have to use the plastic bags, but I'm trying to remember to take my own.  I still have a ton of plastic bags left from before I started using cloth bags, but they will run out one day, unless I make a point to use them when I need more plastic bags.  But I am trying to be more "green." 

What's a green alternative for picking up poop?  I can't see using cloth bags, taking the poop home, doing something with it, then washing the bag and reusing it!  I have switched to using cloth in place of paper for almost everything, but that I can't see myself doing.  I can't even see using the same plastic bag more than once.  I mean, one plastic grocery bag could hold a lot of poop, but I don't see myself taking my dog for a walk, carrying a plastic bag half full of poop with me.  What are my other options?