Last week, I wrote about how the market for pet goods is growing by leaps and bounds.

I think that it's true for many reasons. We want the best for our pets, and many companies are honing in on what can help us achieve that. On the other side of the coin, making life more simple and easy is also a boon to those of us who share our time and care for them.

Often, I write about easy tips, food for thought and products that I find that may fit the bill to help pets or their humans.

Earlier this week, I ran across one idea that is still in its infancy as far as coming to the open market, but surely it will appeal to dog owners, especially those who are environmentally conscious.

The Paulee CleanTec company has an idea that just might take cleaning up dog waste to a whole new level: the AshPoopie.

The premise of this wand-shaped tool is to literally zap your dog's waste to ashes.

The idea is simple enough. All one would need to do when on doody duty is insert a cartridge that contains AshPoopie capsules before you head out, then position the wand over the pile of waste, pick it up with a push of a button and, with another button, draw it inside a blender-like container where the poop is transformed into ash after being mixed at high speed with the capsules.

The resulting ash is odorless and sterile and can be disposed of safely.The wand is retractable when not in use, making it easy to carry around. Plus, no bending is required!

No word on how well the device might work on say, waste that isn't quite firm, nor on how much it might cost.

As someone who spends a lot of time with dogs each day, I can tell you that picking up dog waste as my charges and I walk isn't the best part of what I do, but it's certainly a very mindful part of it.

The environmentally-friendly aspect of this product is certainly appealing, but I'm not sure that I want to carry something like that with me while I'm on rounds. On another note, if it's got a little heft to it, one might be able to use it as a person protection device should the need arise. (On second thought, sticking to pepper spray to fend off an aggressive dog or ill-meaning human might still be a far better choice.)

For the moment, I'll stick to my trusty poop bag dispenser clipped to my favorite leash and pick up what is left behind by my charges as we go.

Lorrie Shaw is lead pets blogger for AnnArbor.com. Catch her daily dog walking and pet sitting adventures or email her directly.