Cat Litter - is litter in more ways than one!

In my day job I often find myself faced with a pile of somebody else's rubbish to sort into categories - it's called residual waste research.

Now, we start the day in good spirits with lots of banter to keep the mood light and the work swift. However as the day wears on my mood generally dips a little and I  have been known to rant a little!!

About what you ask - what could possibly make you cross when you are sorting through rubbish!! Well, in my case, the thing that tends to set me off is the endless bags of heavy, inert and totally non-biodegradable cat litter that we find in the rubbish.

Most people are extremely considerate and wrap up the used litter in a plastic bag so it is not particularly offensive to deal with but boy, is it heavy!! In some waste sorts that we do, cat litter makes up 30% of the weight of rubbish. So 30% of the cost of landfill is because of cat litter!!

Now cat litter is a double edged sword - people who use cat litter can be seen as responsible cat owners who don't let their cat poo all over someone else's garden. But the resultant waste is incredibly heavy and therefore costs a lot of council tax to dispose of it in landfill.

So is there a solution? How can cat owners continue to be responsible pet owners but at the same time not produce incredibly heavy bins? I asked a few questions on twitter and this is what came back....

There are a number of cat litter products on the market that are biodegradable and compostable

Fed & Watered ‏@FedAndWatered  reckon that Cats' Best is the best product - flushable, compostable and economical

 

                              

Our Altrincham ‏@OurAltrincham agree "Better still is Cats' Best degradable cat litter which is so readily degradable it can be flushed down the loo or composted."

 

So if you have a cat and are looking for a way to slim your bin perhaps using a biodegradable cat litter that can be composted is the way forward!

 

If you have found another product that helps you slim your bin please let me know.

 

thanks

ali

 

 

 

 

So here we are in the New Year - I always start a diet in the New Year - well I try to at least..... but this year, how about a different sort of diet - the Rubbish Diet - slimming your bin is great fun, it saves you money, it makes your council tax go further and of course it means that less stuff goes to landfill,loads more stuff gets recycled - saving space in landfill, saving energy and making much better use of valuable resources. One more great thing is no more panic about missing bin day - cos there's hardly anything in your wheelie!! The Rubbish diet – Here are the 7 easy steps to slim your bin: 1. Imagine that after your next bin day there will be no more refuse collections – and you will have to deal with all your waste – anything that can’t be recycled you will have to bury in your own garden – your very own landfill right up close! 2. With that picture in your mind you need to baseline your rubbish – so on the night before your grey bin is collected have a look and make a note of how full your wheelie bin is – roughly how many bags. If you are really keen – weigh each bag so you know how much weight you are chucking out. A photo of inside your bin is a quick way of recording your starting point. 3. So the lovely bin men come and empty your bin – now you are ready to start the rubbish diet – the first challenge is get your recycling system sorted out so it doesn’t drive you mad…. We produce a lot of cardboard and paper so I have 2 stacking boxes next to the bin one for card and one for paper – on top I have a tray (one from an old fridge!) – I put all my plastic, cans, foil tetrapaks, batteries etc in here and empty into recycling boxes every couple of days. The other top tip is to have a bag hanging on a door or under your sink for all plastic wrappers, bread bags, toilet roll bags etc. 4. So challenge for the first week is to try and recycle everything you possibly can – check out this website to find out exactly what the council will collect from your kerbside and what can be taken to bring banks at supermarkets and the Household recycling centre: www.shropshirewaste.gov.uk Don’t forget that all that plastic wrap can be put into the plastic bag recycling bins at supermarkets. 5. After one week of taking out all your yoghurt pots, foil, cans, glass, card and paper and plastic wrapping – the next step is to look at what is still in the bin – make a note of the stuff and have a think about whether there is an alternative that doesn’t produce the waste. For example, foil lined crisp packets – everyone loves crisps but can you cope with buying Sainsburys basic tortilla chips in a clear plastic bag that can be put in bag recycling instead? Will your cat eat canned food instead of the food pouches? Can you buy big pots of yoghurt instead of the little individual ones so you only have one lid instead of 6? 6. Give yourself the challenge of not putting any food in the bin for a week. Investing in a compost bin for all your peelings from fruit and veg is a great way to reduce your waste – maybe a neighbour is a keen gardener and would be happy to have your compost. Can you avoid any wasted food? This is the bit that has been brilliant for us – by cooking once and eating twice we have saved money and avoided waste food in the bin. www.lovefoodhatewaste.org.uk is a great website with all sorts of tips to avoid food waste – the portion measure has really helped us. 7. The rubbish diet is about talking to other dieters so that we support each other – maybe someone has a solution to a waste problem – like using the orange plastic nets from oranges as a scourer. Maybe you have found a waste free alternative and can share that with other dieters So please tell us how you are getting on – follow the Shropshire dieters on Twitter @RDShropshire and check out the blog www.rubbishdietshropshire.blogspot.co.uk and send us your thoughts, questions, complaints and discoveries to Alison.thomas08@gmail.com Thanks and good luck with slimming your bin!!