Where does cat litter end up?

Jimmyyy

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(Not sure whicj forum this belongs in)
Lately I've been thinking about all the plastic bags full of clay cat litter and waste that I've sent to landfills for over 20 years and I'm trying to come up with an alternative. I've tried some of the natural litters like pine and corn-based, but even that stuff winds up in landfill unless I were to bury it in the yard, which isn't practical. I've heard that corn litter clumps can be flushed down the toilet but that it's also not advised and would use a ton of water. From the research I've done it seems like there aren't many options for ecological litter disposal. Other than compostable bags and natural litter there don't seem to be any sustainable options for cat litter/waste disposal since they still go to landfill. I'm curious if other people have thought about this and if anyone has ideas for natural disposal of cat waste.
 

Norachan

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I use a cat litter made from soy bean husks and other soy by products. It can be composted as it is 100% edible. I flush the poop, as cat poop is not good in compost, but dig the rest of the of litter into the compost and make sure it gets plenty of rain water to help it break down.
 
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Jimmyyy

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I use a recycled paper litter and after poop is removed it goes into the compost bin, the worms love it.
Do you flush the poops or put in the trash?
 

Cat McCannon

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Flushing cat poop increases the danger of spreading parasites (I forget which one it is) through the water system to plants and other animals and to people.

I recently switched to grass seed and will be spreading it over a section of the yard that's been taken over with weeds. Poop and urine clumps will go into the trash.
 

ObeseChess

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I used to have compostable poop bags that I toss into the compost with the, er, contents of the litter box, but I read that compost bins usually don't get hot enough to kill the bacteria and parasites that can live in even healthy kitty poop, so now it just goes into the trash.
 

noani

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I use wood pellets which turn into saw dust and flush the poop. Saw dust goes into organic waste.
The waste/recycling system here may be quite different from other places.
I find wood pellets best for price, going through so much less litter with regular sieving, and above all, odor control. If I have a busy schedule I only sieve out the saw dust once per week and get out the poop when they go, and it never, ever smells. Just a bit woody :)
Ive also used one that is pea based? Can't remember the name. It worked well but it's hard to find an unscented version and I hate those artificial smells. Plus after a few days only, the AMMONIA STENCH.
Wood pellets have reduced the ammonia stench to 0 which is what I wanted.
 

Antonio65

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Lately I've been thinking about all the plastic bags full of clay cat litter and waste that I've sent to landfills for over 20 years and I'm trying to come up with an alternative. I've tried some of the natural litters like pine and corn-based, but even that stuff winds up in landfill unless I were to bury it in the yard, which isn't practical. I've heard that corn litter clumps can be flushed down the toilet but that it's also not advised and would use a ton of water. From the research I've done it seems like there aren't many options for ecological litter disposal. Other than compostable bags and natural litter there don't seem to be any sustainable options for cat litter/waste disposal since they still go to landfill. I'm curious if other people have thought about this and if anyone has ideas for natural disposal of cat waste.
This is the reason why 15 years ago I switched to the vegetable litter, wood pellets first, soy bean husks in the last year.
The thought that a hill had to be destroyed to let my cat pee, and that that the same hill would end up in a landfill was killing me.
The vegetable litter goes in the organic waste and is recycled, so no more hills ground to litter and no more landfill filled with my cats wastes.
The soy husks that I'm using now is wonderful, zero bad smell, just the sweet smell of soy. It's very lightweight too.
 

Draco

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I use crushed corn- IE Chicken Crumbles (Non medicated). I toss it into the trash with the regular garbage.
 

Margot Lane

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I’ve tried crushed walnut shells and “yesterday’s news.” But which one does everybody’s CAT like best? Mine is fond of unscented clay so I’m trying to find the most “eco” version.
 

moxiewild

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We’ve tried probably every alternative litter except soybean husks.

We prefer Okocat (recycled wood based) out of all of them. The tracking is bad, but easy to clean up. I prefer it to the tracking that happens with more fine and dusty litters.

Oko last FOREVER and has been the best at odor control that we’ve come across so far. We have anywhere from 15-25 cats here at any given time, so odor control is important for us (and the cats!).

We throw away the poop and pee clumps in compostable bags, and then dump the rest into the compost bin.
 
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Jimmyyy

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Thanks. I'm gonna check out Oko. I think I saw it for sale at Sprouts. Do you have any qualms about putting the litter in the compost? Do you use the compost in edible garden? I saw something about how it's not recommended but I'm thinking it's probably fine in reality.
 

moxiewild

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I do not have qualms about putting it in compost since it’s just wood/biodegradable and organisms that are naturally endemic to the area. It’s perfect for composting.

That said, I would definitely not use it for edible plants because of the risk of harmful pathogens contaminating your food. Ornamental plants only!
 
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