You may have heard about a plan in New Taipei City, Taiwan to hold a dog poo lottery last year. The idea was for people to turn in bags of poo and receive a lottery ticket in return. The prize – ingots of gold.
Turns out the plan was “a big success“.
We checked and found this BBC report from last December:
A woman in her 50s won the top prize – a gold ingot worth $2,200 (£1,400). […] The woman who won is among a team of neighbourhood volunteers who already helped to clean up the streets, including by picking up dog mess.
The BBC’s Cindy Sui in Taipei says that it has been credited with halving the amount of dog mess in the city, which is near the capital.
They say the city simply cannot afford to keep exchanging dog poo for gold.
You think?
Too bad for everybody.
But it makes you wonder – could a lottery like this be implemented anywhere? You don’t have to give away gold ingots (yes, “smaller gold ingots, worth several hundred dollars, were given to four other prizewinners“). What if you just had ‘normal’ prizes, like a coupon to your favorite eatery?
How about the South Loop Poo Lottery?
Certainly would bring international attention to Chicago, maybe the City boosters would go for it…
Shanghaiist thinks it's a great idea, too.
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