In my effort to reduce my garbage going to the landfill to near zero, I realized that I was going to have to do something about the cat litter waste that was comprising ~90% (and probably 99%, by weight) of my remaining garbage. A friend had found a local company, Green Dog Cleaning Company, with a pick-up service for composting cat litter. And so, the search for and transition to a biodegradable/compostable cat litter began.
Even before I found out about Green Dog Cleaning Company, I had tried to find an acceptable biodegradable cat litter. I never liked clumping litter due to the “tracking” mess (and with two cats, it can get bad if one isn’t sweeping up all the time), and the cats equally disliked pellets – both paper and pine – as demonstrated by their NOT USING the litter box (which then required even more of a clean-up than the clumping litter). Finally, I bought a bag of Healthy Pet ™ Cracked Pine litter. It smells nice, absorbs odor and urine well, and the cats don’t mind the texture. As with non-clumping clay litter, cat pooped gets scooped daily. The Green Dog litter pickup service provides a 2.5 or 5 gallon bucket, lined with a compostable liner, every week. The fee for me is about $5 per week, and it’s worth it to me to not send garbage to the landfill (with mined clay!). If I quit my garbage/recycling service, which I am close to doing, it will pay for itself.
Right now, in the greater Portland Oregon area the only store that I know of that carries the Cracked Pine Cat Litter is Fred Meyer. If there are others, let me know. The lack of availability at more stores and the plastic packaging are my only complaints.
There you have it, two recommendations in one: 1) Healthy Pet Cracked Pine Cat Litter (Healthy Pet also has other varieties, including a clumping litter, but they may be hard to find), and 2) Green Dog Cleaning Company (and they pickup/compost Dog waste as well).
Green Dog Cleaning Company in the News (The Oregonian)
Even before I found out about Green Dog Cleaning Company, I had tried to find an acceptable biodegradable cat litter. I never liked clumping litter due to the “tracking” mess (and with two cats, it can get bad if one isn’t sweeping up all the time), and the cats equally disliked pellets – both paper and pine – as demonstrated by their NOT USING the litter box (which then required even more of a clean-up than the clumping litter). Finally, I bought a bag of Healthy Pet ™ Cracked Pine litter. It smells nice, absorbs odor and urine well, and the cats don’t mind the texture. As with non-clumping clay litter, cat pooped gets scooped daily. The Green Dog litter pickup service provides a 2.5 or 5 gallon bucket, lined with a compostable liner, every week. The fee for me is about $5 per week, and it’s worth it to me to not send garbage to the landfill (with mined clay!). If I quit my garbage/recycling service, which I am close to doing, it will pay for itself.
Right now, in the greater Portland Oregon area the only store that I know of that carries the Cracked Pine Cat Litter is Fred Meyer. If there are others, let me know. The lack of availability at more stores and the plastic packaging are my only complaints.
There you have it, two recommendations in one: 1) Healthy Pet Cracked Pine Cat Litter (Healthy Pet also has other varieties, including a clumping litter, but they may be hard to find), and 2) Green Dog Cleaning Company (and they pickup/compost Dog waste as well).
Green Dog Cleaning Company in the News (The Oregonian)
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Hmmm ... commenting on my own blog. I should have mentioned the reasons that one would want to use a biodegradable, renewably-sourced litter in the first place. In addition to reducing land-fill waste, clay-based litters require mining and habitat destruction, and then are usually chemically treated (most are quite perfume-y) and have other additives (like charcoal, which produces a fine black dust). The Healthy Pet litters get their pine from reclaimed waste from other wood products. While it may not be the perfect solution for a sustainable future, it is a step in that direction. There are those who say we should maximize the wild (animals and their habitats) and minimize the domestic (pets and our impacts) -- and I can't disagree with that!
ReplyDeletenoticed that you commented on Healthy Pet Cracked Pine Cat Litter. Is it still available at Fred Meyer (Portland area)?
ReplyDeleteI live in Montana, cant find it anywhere, love it (so do the cats) and hope if it is still at Meyer's my truck driving husband could get some for me when he's in Portland.
Your post was in 2010, I believe. It is now April 2011; could not find it at Fred Meyer.com.
SURE HOPE I can find it somewhere, bought it years ago at PetsMart or Petco, (not sure which) but no more. jbpet in Jersey has TWO bags left?? and shipping twice much as price of product!
Thanks so much, Julie the cat rescuer jrs9@bridgeband.com