So, we have 3 indoor cats and cat litter duty is everyone's FAVORITE chore. I'm being facetious, of course, everyone HATES cat litter duty. We've cut back on so much of our trash by recycling and composting, but cat litter continues to be one area of waste that we are not able to "eliminate". Feeling guilty about the cat litter waste, I decided to try some more environmentally friendly alternatives: Feline Pine (made from recycled lumber-mill sawdust); Yesterday's News (made from recycled newspaper); Swheat Scoop, an all-natural scoopable litter that's made from naturally processed (non-food grade) wheat; World's Best Cat Litter - Extra Strength Formula, a natural, clumpable, scoopable and flushable cat litter made from whole-kernel corn. I really liked the World's Best made from whole-kernel corn, the smell was light, the bag was lighter than regular clumping litter, and it is environmentally friendly.
Unfortunately the cats didn't like ANY of the enviro-litters. To show their disdain for my attempts to be a good eco-steward, they (most likely the she cat) decided to eliminate in inappropriate areas. This resulted in me having to use multiple treatments of the expensive but effective Nature's Miracle to remove the horrid cat pee smell. So my attempts to be eco-friendly, reducing the cat litter impact with biodegradable litters backfired, resulting in hours of extra cleaning, having to purchase expensive cleaners (bad for the pocketbook), throwing out some things (bad for landfills), and frustration (bad for my blood pressure!) The cats win this eco-battle and we stay with their preferred clumping litter. Perhaps if we'd had these alternative litters when they were kittens they would have been "raised" on eco-litter and not know any different.
”A la Carte Green” is about making green choices on a daily basis, in a manner that works for you. It's about trying and choosing greener options "a la carte" because there is no one size fits all solution. Not everyone can walk to work or have solar panels, but we can choose to bring waste-free lunches, or to dry our clothes in the sunshine. You get the picture. Small “A la Carte Green” choices made by each person will have positive impacts. Which green options will you choose?
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