I Heart Earth

It came to my attention as recently as Sunday, how bad most cat litter is for the environment. Not only is it filled with chemicals and dust that are harmful to me and my cat (i.e., silicone), it is MINED.

Mining cat litter just brings about nasty images of Gargamel (see Smurfs), with an evil laugh, riding around in giant yellow construction equipment taking out trees, and soil, and little animals all over the large areas of the world. Scary.

As one environmentalist says, "The most common and widely available cat litter is made from natural clay, extruded into pellets and dried. It is available just plain and unscented, or with additives such as baking soda, chlorophyll fresheners, alfalfa, and essential oils. The problem is that these products produce a lot of dust (although some brands claim that the type of clay they use produces a dust-free product), which contains silicon particles that are listed by the California E.P.A. as a known carcinogen. Clay particles tend to cling to your cat's fur and in-between their toes. In addition to leaving dusty cat prints on your floors, breathing these particles can cause respiratory infections ingestion (when they lick themselves clean) can cause intestinal blockage or prevent nutrient absorption. Environmentally, much of the clay is strip-mined -- the US Bureau of Mines estimates that in 1994, approximately 1.5 million metric tons of clay were mined to make the absorbent type of cat litter alone. Clay-type litter also cannot be flushed, as eventually the fine clay particles accumulate in pipes and can cause clogging, so it ends up in the trash can. Some industry sources claim that cat litter accounts for more volume in landfills than disposable diapers." --Debra Lynn Dadd

As luck would have it, Bean's clay based litter ran out this weekend, so yesterday I ran to the store to pick up some more. I finally found an environmentally healthy litter I think we can work with (he hates all the pellety ones made from newspapers and pine dust). This one is called Swheat Scoop Natural Cat Litter. Although wheat is my enemy when I ingest it, as cat litter it is my friend. This particular brand grinds the litter down so that it is the consistency of large grains of sand. It has no odor, and looks a little like dried wheat cereal. Bean is mildly suspicious because it's new, but he has used it.

Little by little I am trying to make us a greener family. I haven't quite talked Scott into canvas grocery bags yet, but we'll get there. Since I can't afford to get a hybrid car or solar panels for my house today, I'll try to do the little things I can to reduce waste and use renewable resources, like wheat based cat litter, instead of mined clay. I Heart Earth.

So there Dave!