Do you ever think of how you dispose your cat litter, or it just doesn’t matter to you as long as you get rid of it?
Plastic bags offer a great way of doing that as they are easy to use and simply throw away, but do you have any idea what that does to the environment? If this continues, we are all likely to be in deep trouble in the next few years.
Therefore, if you have been using the same, it may be time to consider some eco-friendly alternatives to disposing your cat’s litter.
Why should you desist from Using Plastic Bags?
Owning a kitty comes with several challenges. One, you want to keep them clean and hygienic all the time and at the same time, you need to think about how to dispose their litter in an eco-friendly way so that the environment can thrive.
Now, choosing to do one may compromise the other, but the fact remains that we need to be mindful of the environment.
By choosing not to use plastic bags to dispose your cat’s litter, you not only keep your pet in good health, you also protect the planet from destruction. It is a win-win kind of situation, wouldn’t you agree?
Substitutes for Plastic Bags
There are different ways you can use to take care of your cat without compromising the environment. Here are some of them.
Use Cat Litter for your Garden
We cannot agree more that most cat owners find it hard to use other methods of getting rid of their cat’s litter. However, it is something that is worth trying if you care about the environment and want to contribute to its well-being.
As such, you can use your cat’s litter to decorate your garden as well as act as manure to help your plants grow healthy and strong.
Use Biodegradable Bags
You do not have to use your cat litter as manure, you can throw it away, but the catch here is to use biodegradable bags to do that.
Sure, you can dispose the cat litter in a compost bin but the problem is that there may be a lack of enzymes in there to break the litter down hence making it a not-so-good decision.
Biodegradable bags make the perfect choice because they come with ample heat needed to break down your cat’s litter. What you need to do is to scoop the water that may be in the litter before throwing it away in the bag.
Scoop and Toss Manually
This is probably the best method because all you need to is to use your hands or a suitable tool to scoop and toss your cat’s waste into a biodegradable bag before throwing it into your curbside garbage.
Within the next month after doing that, you will be ready to switch the litter in the box. After that, you can empty the litter the newspaper then toss it into the trashcan.
Use Recycled Paper
If you have old newspapers lying around in your home, you can easily turn them into something more useful – cat litter.
By doing that, you will be making your cat litter fully degradable and less smelly hence friendly to the environment.
Watch your Cat’s Diet
If you are feeding your cat with food that is full of preservatives and chemicals, it will end up in their fecal matter, which will then be in their litter.
You do not want that junk in the environment when you dump your cat’s litter. As such, you want to ensure that your kitty feeds on more organic and nutrient-rich foods that will not harm the environment.
Avoid Flushing
Flushing your cat litter down your toilet sounds like a fast and hassle-free way of handling things and while that is the case, it is not an eco-friendly method.
You see, flushing down the litter can cause health issues such as threatening ocean life and polluting water especially if the litter is contaminated.
Use Grass Seed
Grass seed offers another great alternative for disposing your cat litter. The first thing is that using grass seed does not spread dust and the best part is that it masks the odor that comes from cat litter.
Use a Compost Pit
If you find yourself more inclined to use the compost method, we would advise you to dump the litter into a compound pile.
The idea here is to ensure that the distance between the growing plants and the waste pile is far.
Tips for Disposing Cat Litter the Green Way
Other than the methods, we have talked about when it comes to disposing cat litter; we have some useful tips for you.
Here you go.
1. Avoid using disposable scoops. We understand that they are preferable as far as preventing contamination, but it would be better to use metal scoops that you can easily clean with castile soap and vinegar and store.
2. Never use liners because they just make up part of the waste.
3. Plastic bags are not eco-friendly so avoid using them for disposing your cat litter.
4. If you have to use bags for disposal, use biodegradable ones.
5. Consider buying biodegradable litter as it can easily be thrown into gardens and decompose to facilitate healthier growth of plants.
6. If you intend to use compost cat waste, avoid using it on edible plants. Instead, use it on lawns and non-edible plants.
7. What goes in certainly has to come out. Make it a habit to feed your cat organic food as that helps in getting less harmful cat litter that will be safer for the environment.
8. Try to use cat litter boxes that are biodegradable because plastic ones also contribute to environmental degradation.
Final Thoughts
The need for everyone to contribute to environmental preservation cannot be overemphasized. We all have to play our part in that. Disposing you cat litter in plastic bags is one of the ways you use to degrade the environment but now that you know what alternatives are there, use them and rest easy knowing that you are part of the solution and not the problem.
