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thank god you've asked this question, because i have the same problem. i know people that use litter liner bags that are somewhat biodegradable...?

I've heard from people who know more about these things than I that paper bags aren't going to decompose in a landfill all that much faster than plastic bags. There's something about all of that stuff being compressed together in a landfill that keeps it from decomposing effectively.

Paper bags also take more energy and water to produce, which is fine when they're recycled, but using paper for kitty litter that must be thrown in the trash is probably worse for the environment in the long run.

Unless you are using biodegradable litter also, it won't make a difference. Clay litter is just as bad.

Oh gawd, just use a plastic bag. You don't want your house smelling like crap.

Since our apartment building has a trash chute just down the hall our apartment "smelling like crap" is not a big issue. I too have been wondering about this question - I found a source for "biodegradable bags" for $10 for 200 but wonder if paper bags would be better.

Why not just use scoopable, flushable litter and replace the litter once in a while?

I don't understand why you need liners at all.

I use an old kitty litty bucket for daily cleanings (it has a lid and all) and then dump the whole thing weekly into my kitchen trash can whose bag then goes into the big garbage can.

I agree.... why use bags at all... just use scoopable liier. And for a biodegradable option - use Worlds Best Cat Litter.

A couple of other tips to keep kitty odors to a minimum:
- If you put enough litter in the pan, your kitties business won't reach the bottom of the pan, thereby keeping it cleaner.
- Stay on top of it... when you're around, and kitty makes a 'deposit' scoop it up and dump it.

elvedon - any specific brands to try? I have three cats (and one very small bathroom) so odor control is quite an issue.

I use plastic or paper, and when I run out of either (because I'm using reusable grocery bags), I start doing things like taking the plastic liners from inside cereal and cracker boxes--anything just to transport it out to the garbage. I'm not sure there is a solution to the biodegradability of any of it, because I've heard stories about the flushable litter--how it actually does do damage to your septic system.

I tried the paper bag thing last week. I used a white lunch-style bag. It worked surprisingly well. Trash pickup was coming in the morning so I put it outside the door at night and checked the bag in the morning. The litter didn't leak through. The only downside was getting the whole scoop to balance correctly to "ladle" the litter all the way into the bag (we use a large scoop).

I thought you're not supposed to flush any scoopable litter because the cat waste will sicken all the sea creatures in the waterways.

We use a scoopable litter, and scoop twice daily (once in the morning, and once in the evening), but even with the scoopable stuff, the time comes when you MUST dump the whole bin in one shot, rinse it out and start fresh. I think that is the point of the question. What do I do with five pounds of letter, not the little scoopable lumps?

But please correct me if I am wrong.

Just kill the cat.

I live in Munich and we have compost pick up once a week. I use a paper bag (from the bakery - my colleagues collect them for me) and scoop the two litter boxes every morning and then take the bag out with me and dump it in the compost container on the way to work.

I saw a composting demonstration a while back and a full container of paper took two to three months to decompose, so I don't think the paper bags would stay in tact for too long at the compost site or the landfill.

I really like the pine pellet litter. After removing the solid waste (and disposing in the toilet or in the trash) the pellets make good compost.

I use sWheat Scoop, which is a by-product of wheat production. It's similar in grain to clay litter so cats who are picky about pelleted litter (pine or newsprint) will still use it. It's great stuff. I've tried World's Best but find that it has a really off odor... that could just be me though.

From what I've heard flushing litter/waste is not recommended. I generally use extra paper bags or just scoop used litter into my Seventh Gen trash bags when I am taking out the regular trash. I try to avoid using a separate bag just to throw out litter.

Does this cat litter from the early-mid 90s still exist? It was large kernels of corn, shellacked so they do not degrade or absorb fluids. My friend had that for her numoerus cats and would simple remove the kittys' solids, rinse the kernels in a large strainer affair, shake them dry and return to the litter box. I thought it was genius.

I know there is a corn litter out there... don't know if it's reusable. Interesting idea.

Suzie... there's compressed sawdust litter (ie. Feline Pine) which I think has the best odor control. My new cat refused to step on it, though. Their clumping one (essentially sawdust with xanthan gum) is softer on the paw; it does scatter a bit but then, what litter doesn't. I use sWheat Scoop right now and like it. Decent odor control although not the same neutralizing effect of the pine sawdust. There's also recycled paper litter (ie. Yesterday's News). The odor control isn't very good but can be improved by adding a cup of baking soda. The good side is it's clean and smooth and there's no dust. (Until you add the baking soda.)

Rappy - I assume the compost is aeriated to help things break down. Landfills are not. It doesn't matter what you put the litter in because everything is mummified in there. No air for bacteria to grow in. I use whatever waste bags I find around the house, like Joan.

Unless you are flushing litter (what a waste of water if you flush each time!), I would say just use the plastic. Paper bags (and the no-bag route) are smellier and, in addition, can be really hard on your neighborhood trash collector.

I remember reading a poll once in which trash collectors cited improperly disposed of cat litter and dog waste as one of their top complaints. A specific point was made that people should "double-bag"--and not just throw it into a larger garbage bag--because even strong trash bags are frequently ripped open during collection, spilling the contents (yick).

So, be kind to your neighborhood trash collector.

You can't own cats and call yourself green, unless your cat is a solar powered robot cat.

I use scoopable kitty litter too...But regardless if the lable says flushable or not...if I flush it, it clogs the toilet...constantly. So we empty the catbox at night using a plastic bag and walk down the hall to the garbage shoot so nothing smells.

I second the recommendation of a flushable litter, that would be great! Pellet litters such as yesterday's news are great...until your cat gets the squirts. Then you HAVE to dump the whole box every day.

Off topic, but important... the picture for this thread shows kitty in a paper bag with handles - the handles should always be cut off of bags that you give your cat(s) - they can (and eventually will) get stuck in them. Luckily I was home the day I forgot to do this to free my cat from the scary bag monster chasing her around.
There is a pricey cat toilet that washes a permanent litter material after the cat leaves the box - would solve the litter problem (and the scooping problem), but not the water problem. Does anyone have one of those?

I use World's Best Cat Litter - which is made from corn as some people have mentioned. It is flushable, natural and biodegradable. I dispose of waste daily by flushing it and don't use a liner since my cat's shred them anyway.

Then, once a week when I do the full replacement, I remove what's remaining of the litter in the pan, clean the pan with some Seventh Generation or method spracy cleaner, and dispose of the waste and week-old litter in bio bags - which are biodegradable kitchen-trash sized bags. You can buy them on drugstore.com (I know, I know, delivery is not the greenest option but 2 out of 3 aint bad).

My neighbor uses something called Swheat (I probably got that name wrong) that can be scooped & flushed down the toilet. But...I babysat for her cat and I found it quite odiferous..maybe that was just her cat, but it turned me off trying it for mine..

For now I'm sticking with regular scoopable and using plastic bags from the grocery store. I take my own bags to the store 90% of the time but I get enough bags to use otherwise when I forget.

I'm not wild about this solution but I'm trying to reduce trash in every other aspect of my life with recycling & composting. I'm down to one kitchen garbage bag (not counting the cat litter) a month of things my town disposal won't let me recycle and I can't compost. I'm probably just cancelling out my "savings" with the cat litter, but it's too late in his life to turn him into an outdoor cat...

There are cat poop composters out there and I might look into one of those. I don't think animal waste in vegetable compost is a very good idea at all (someone mentioned doing that in a comment above).

It is illegal to flush cat waste down toilets in parts of California because the processed waste water is sent to the oceans, and cat waste is known to contain harmful parasites that can harm sea life. :(

Cat feces and dirty litter should never be flushed, as they are one of the leading causes of sea otter deaths.
http://www.squidoo.com/catcrap

For the same reason, composting cat litter is also not recommended, as many of the pathogens in the cat feces will not be removed by the composting process, so then the compost would not be safe for plants, especially any edible plants!

I also read (like others have mentioned) that because of the lack of oxygen in landfills, nothing will decompose there, rendering the debate of plastic vs. paper futile.

I have 2 cats and this whole thing bums me out a great deal.

I scoop the clumps into a small pail & dump it directly into our outside bin. When I have to dump the whole cat box-I carry the whole thing to the outside bin & dump it in. No bags.

I always double bagged my animal waste out of respect for the local trash collection guys. The idea of litter dust blowing back into their faces at collection was enough to convince me of the necessity. Rudy the cat died in May after 14 loving years in our family and no plans for replacement kitties. I reuse the small plastic bags the newspaper delivery kid uses to protect papers from water and wind damage. Nothing decays in the landfill due to the lack of microbial activity - no oxygen.

I toilet trained my cat, and he flushes. Cats are smart, most people are stupid. But here is what most people DON'T know about kitty litter... Scatter the kitty litter (unused stuff straight from the bag) around outside where you will be camping, barbecuing, etc. Spread it like grass seed, and you will be free of mosquitoes for a few days or until it rains. Get the very cheapest kind of bagged litter. It works better than anything else I've seen and is very "green" especially compared to any chemical spray out there.

I actually use litter that is a corn litter that I can flush down the toilet...makes like a million times easier. And the cats LOVE to watch it go down the bowl. No waste to affect the environment...problem solved!

Ugh, please don't flush cat litter. You are poisoning the waterways.

Flushing your kitty litter and waste isn't a good idea.
posted by TRUE BLUE on 2008-07-02 22:30:59
Cat poop in the toilet in California is discouraged, as it's being blamed for the death of sea otters:

"In a study published in 2002, UC-Santa Cruz researchers reported that 62 percent of 107 dead sea otters collected along the California coastline from Half Moon Bay to Santa Barbara were infected with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in cat waste....all cat litter sold in California starting Jan. 1, 2007 to have a warning label telling people not to flush it down the toilet."

I don't know if they still make them, but there use to be a litter box that automatically raked the waste into a sealed bucket every time they went. You can then dump the waste into the trash when it's ready to go out.

I just reuse plastic bags and put them down the shute. Sorry, but I can't be green with every single little thing I do. I can't flush it, I can't compost it, and those biodegradable bags arean't really so green either.

There was a news item a few months ago about how flushing litter down the toilet was a really bad idea especially if you are using the synthetic Arm and Hammer kind of flushable litter. In California, they even stopped selling that.

Some cats will not use specific kinds of litter. I tried to use the pine stuff, I was really excited about it but my cat hated the feel of it and refused to use it. She would much rather use soft substrate. That, and it really didn't keep the smell down all that well.

I use the "Litter Locker". Its really cheap, keeps the odors completely sealed, holds the scoop, and just uses one giant tube plastic bag that you replace about once every few months (and I have two kitties that drink a LOT of water!) You just scoop it into a receptacle, and turn the crank.

What also helps with the smell is the kind of litter box you use, but again, cats are picky! I use a litter box that looks like a rubbermaid tub and has a lid on it with a circle in the top to jump in.

I think the best way to be green when it comes to cats are to just use as little as product as possible. They make a kind of litter box I have yet to try (and trust me, I've tried many), which the urine filters down into a canister type thing, and you just scoop the poop on the top into the toilet. Again though, I don't know how eco-friendly that is, either!

Any way you look at it, its still waste and cats still gotta poop.

strange that cat poop straight to the ocean is such a concern. shouldn't ALL poop/waste (human or other) be a concern going straight to the frigging ocean??
i'm sure there's crap in our crap thats a larger concern seeing as everyone sends human waste down the toilet.

has anyone tried this: http://www.breezeforcats.com/productOverview.html ? it uses pellets and pads? saw it at target...

Switching litter is not always an option. My cat will only use the box if there is clay litter in it. It bummed me out because I would much rather use the scoopable corn or wheat litter but alas kitty pooped on the floor by the box when I tried that. I got the message!

Understandably, it is difficult to be truly "green" as a pet-owner. So instead, go back to the "reduce-recycle-reuse" as much as you can. Embracing the "reduce," and keeping in mind that part of an ideal living space is the absence of pet odors, you may check out the Petmate "Litter Locker." http://cats.about.com/od/litterbox/gr/litterlocker.htm It's a little tricky to figure out at first, but it works wonders at containing pet odors in the receptacle. It uses less plastic than if you use a plastic bag every time your kitty potties, and it has an almost interesting modern design. I live on the sixth floor of a walk-up, so this was heaven-sent for me! If you wanted to take it to the next level, maybe you could buy some biodegradable fabric or something and make your own refill? I don't know enough about those sorts of products, but maybe someone truly innovative and "green" could find a solution. It's worth a try!

ggsix, the reason cat feces is such a concern is b/c of toxoplasmosis, something not present in human feces. For the same reason, pregnant women are advised to never scoop the litterbox b/c while adult humans may be carriers, but not become sick (or have very mild symptoms), the growing fetus will not be so lucky. Same goes for adults with compromised immune systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis

I have a small trash can (with lid) and just use one recyclable plastic bag til it fulls up - leave it in the can - then throw it away with the trash. There's no odor. I live in SF and now all supermarkets/drug stores have to use recyclable bags, so that's what I use. I have wanted to try the pine litter but here bad things re: bugs.

Someone commented above to put more litter so the cat doesn't touch the bottom (to keep it cleaner): that's actually very bad advice and can cause bad cat behavior - any reputable cat book or vet will agree. Cats naturally do not come from beaches with lots of sand, they are much closer to the earth and prefer to bury quickly and know where their waste is vs. hide it for their owner. 1/2 inch is ideal for a 1-cat litter box, just add a bit every day or two.

000, you can't be human and call yourself green either, unless your a solar powered robot man... who's made of garbage so as to deplete no ressources what so ever.

Every living thing creates waste, so get over it and move on

I second elvedon's comment. I use Swheat Scoop, which is biodegradable and flushable, and I don't use a liner. I replace the litter about every three weeks - once a month and each time I do that I clean out the box with hot soapy water. Not so hard.

@ 2lastnames: have you tried a mixture of the clay litter and wheat litter to get her used to it before switching completely? or put a layer of wheat below a layer of the clay so she can get used to it that way.

The other issue with making the litter level too high in your box is that, with the cat crouching to pee/poop, some of the litter can get in sensitive areas and cause an irritation, or worse, an infection.

Oh I am so glad someone addressed this issue. I am thinking way can't someone come up with and use enzymes? Or what ever they use in septic tanks? I have tried all the things listed above and went back to scoopable and the bags,, now i dump the used in the old little bucket and dump the whole thing.I feel bad about it . But please people do not use litter in the compost , or toilet just not good . tylerduren you are mean .......Maj512

I recently read that cat litter falls into the "other" category of solid waste disposal in landfills. The entire "other" category only makes up 4% of the landfill waste. While not something to ignore, it should be observed as a low number.

As someone mentioned above, many localities ban flushing of litter and cat feces, and composting is also an apparent "no-no" because of Toxicplasmosis surviving the compost process. I have also read that in many cities, loose litter and unbagged cat waste is prohibited, and in some places must be double-bagged. With these prohibitions, our only option is to dispose of used litter in the local landfills.

This brings us to the next decision: Paper or Plastic. One can assume that cat litter is going to remain for a significant time span in the landfill system because nothing decomposes in landfills for a REALLY LONG time. Additionally, I believe municipalities actually want the landfills to remain separate and quarantined off from the water and soil around them, which leads me to believe they don't really want the contents decomposing quickly and re-entering our environment at an accelerated rate. (seems like a good thing to me)

With all this said, the choice between plastic and paper based on decomposition rates seems mute, since these things are there for a super long time anyway. (I've read that newspapers are in better condition in landfills 20 years later than they are stacked in your garage for that same spell of time.)

The argument now shifts to which is better: paper or plastic based on the production phase. Based on what I've read, the signs point to plastic over paper as far as production and resource use is concerned.

Now, rather than pay to use a bag one time (kitty scoop bags, bio litter liners, etc) I'm probably going to continue using free Target shopping bags because they are the sturdiest, with no holes in them like the grocery bags have on the seam. When I have enough to keep me in 2-4 bags per week (I have two cats and may consider double bagging, hate the thought of cat feces hitting my garbage man in the face!), I'll refuse the bags in the shop and use my cloth bags like I already do at the grocery.

Thoughts?

partial solution? link to naturemill http://www.eco-outfitter.com/p-57-naturemill-plus-edition-automatic-compost-bin.aspx

inhome composter reportedly certified to compost kitty litter. this may be the solution. i suspect that it is not meant to handle when you are doing a complete toss of (especially clay) litter, but will handle the feces and clumped urine which are the prime problem. see what you think.