Reduce Your Cat’s Carbon Paw Print With CatGenie’s Self-Flushing Litter Box
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 06.16.08
TreeHuggers everywhere are working to lighten the carbon load on the planet. Some of us are doing a little, others a lot. Whether it’s through offsetting your flights, taking public transport or by buying energy efficient light bulbs, there are some simple things we can do that can make a big difference.
But have you ever thought about your pet’s carbon footprint, err paw print?
Take cats. Some 40 percent of all Americans own at least one, and not all of these cats are permitted outdoors for various reasons. Keeping them inside spares them from contagious diseases and accidents, and helps protect songbirds as well. However, the huge quantity of cat litter they produce is a burden on the environment.
Cats need to dig, so they need a litter box. But one ounce of cat urine consumes three ounces of clumping cat litter, which must be hauled to the dump. The standard clumping litter is not biodegradable and is made from sodium bentonite which has been linked to cat deaths (the link points to a TreeHugger forum discussion about this issue). The source of todium bentonite? Strip-mines in Wyoming and Brazil. Can you believe that we are strip mining for cats?
According to CatGenie, inventor of a new self-flushing cat box, millions of tons of used cat litter ends up in American landfill sites. CatGenie’s solutions? Their appliance, which is likened to a toilet for cats, uses washable, litter-like granules that are permanent. Liquid waste drains through them while the machine scoops out solids and liquefies them into a poop puree for easy drainage. The granules are then washed and dried.
A New Appliance?
Normally we do not advocate buying a new appliance to fill one specific need, but we do think the CatGenie, despite using water and chemicals to biodegrade cat feces, may be a better solution to your cat’s litter box. For cats, says the company, “it’s a roomy cat box filled with fresh, clean litter-size granules that are comfy for digging and covering.
“For cat lovers, the CatGenie is a washing, drying cat sanitation appliance. At least once a day, CatGenie automatically washes.”
The CatGenie adds the company has a magical “GenieHand” that scoops, scrubs and scours the granules and box interior and then a blowing function dries the granules. Located just outside of Philadelphia near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (it was developed in Israel and tested on Israeli cats) the machine can be purchased online.
Now we haven’t done a carbon audit on CatGenie to see how much less carbon intensive their device is on the environment than self-clumping litter but we imagine it is significant.
Toxoplasmosis Risk?
We were concerned though about toxoplasmosis and the environmental hazards of flushing cat fecal puree down the drain. Here’s what CatGenie’s marketing rep Steven says in reply:
With regard to Toxoplasmosis, it is almost a non-issue for indoor domestic cats. Additionally, even if a cat does get the parasite and sheds the oocysts (eggs) which is what causes the concern they only do this for 2-10 days 1 time in their entire life. Thus an individual cat passes oocysts into the human environment for only a small fraction of its entire life span.Indoor cats that do not hunt are even less likely to get it, and cats that come from shelters have usually had it already (remember they only get it 1x in their lifetime). Because oocysts are passed unsporulated and noninfectious, contact with fresh feline feces (<1 day old) of an infected cat is not a risk. Since the CatGenie is cleaned at least 1x every day and in the rare situation where a cat that is passing oocysts use it, the feces are flushed out of the home before there is any issues.
Additionally, the CatGenie does kill many other types of bacteria that are much more common and is a clearly better alternative to sending wasteful and bacteria filled litter to the dump. The EPA recommends that the best way to handle pet waste is to flush it. The biggest risk to people and the most common occurrence of toxoplasmosis comes from people eating uncooked meat and digging in the garden.
We continue to improve the CatGenie and are reducing the plastic used in the disposable cartridges and will be reducing waste of those cartridges by 50% in the next few months combined with looking into producing them as biodegradable like our Washable Granules.
See a film about how CatGenie works:
If the infomercial on CatGenie still hasn’t sold you, there are some environmentally-friendly cat litter solutions. Here are a couple:
World's Best Cat Litter –– A dust-free litter is made from absorbent corn protein and other fibres which is flushable and biodegradable.
Swheat Scoop –– This is a clay-free and chemical-free litter made from wheat. It also biodegrades and is safe for both sewers and septic tanks. Clumping well, Swheat Scoop can also be tossed in the compost heap.
Win a CatGenie
Have an idea for reducing your pet’s carbon paw print? Enter the contest to win a free CatGenie, retail value about $300. Put your ideas in the comments section and we’ll choose the one we like best in one month.
::CatGenie
But if we're all supposed to be living in smaller houses/apartments to reduce our carbon footprint, where are we supposed to put these? There's no room in my bathroom for anything like this.
eh, it's like how treehugger has stories on ways to drive better, when we should all be taking our bikes anyway. This is for people (not me) that have big bathrooms/laundry rooms and the the money to buy this.
Could you fix the 2 links to different types of litter at the bottom? they both lead to page not found pages, and I'm pretty curious in them since I plan on getting a cat soonish.
...or you could toilet train your cat.
I looked into these for the reasons stated but got some information that cat waste, in particular, should not be flushed. I would love to see some comments by waste engineers/municipal water spokespeople on the issue of whether this is an okay thing to do. (We should be as skeptical of the claims of companies we like as we are of companies we do not like.)
We trained our cat to use our toilet. No clay litter. Nothing going into the landfill. No odors. No ugly litter box in the apartment. Of course, we have to flush, and we use water for that, but we have a water conserving toilet.
When you factor in the cost of cat litter (non-clumping for my cat) plus tray liners plus plastic bags to take the used litter to the trash (even if one recycles plastic bags from shopping, there is still a cost) this unit could end up saving you money in the long run - particularly when one considers the average lifespan of an indoor cat. I would rather be recycling plastic shopping bags than using them to bag cat "byproducts" and used clay litter.
While it does have a rather large footprint, it doesn't appear to be that much bigger than the one I have now. It's one of those covered litter boxes so it takes up some room.
As far as reducing my cat's pawprint goes, I buy high quality cat food - less filler in the food means less litter in the box - and use creativity when it comes to keeping her amused. Rather than shelling out big bucks for cat toys that she won't even feign interest in, a paper grocery bag or cardboard box works, as does a wadded up ball of aluminum foil. All of which last for a long time and produce hours of amusement for both cat and cat owner.
And rather than use chemicals or lug around a carpet cleaner to clean up hairball induced "surprises" on the carpet or floor, an antibacterial silver microfibre cleaning cloth and a bit of elbow grease does the job to remove the stain and odor - even on an off-white carpet.
There are products available and DIY instructions on the internet to help you train your cat to use the toilet. I'm not sure which impact is greater though, the increased water usage, or kitty litter production.
Well now the guilt of three cats in the household and their carbon pawprint is just painful right now. But I figure that they all sleep on our bed in the winter allowing us to turn down the heat even more makes up for their carbonpawprint. ;)
Seriously though. They work at home, stay inside, are self cleaning without using water, provide us very cheap entertainment ......
We buy their food in bulk every month plus thus reducing packaging and transport costs. We store their food in a sealed bucket so it doesn't go bad before it's done being eaten (fast with three).
We empty their water dish into the plants to save water and then fill it with fresh water.
Beyond that I haven't a clue how to reduce their carbonpawprint as other than their litter box and food and water they aren't exactly consumptive creatures. We make their toys and have one brush that is shared among all three.
There's serious issues with flushing cat waste, namely toxoplasmosis which is turning up in lakes/rivers/streams and drinking water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis
Luckily I live in a community where food scraps are composted and they accept kitty litter and cat waste.
Flushing kitty litter is NOT a solution. It's like saying you should flush your medication instead of throwing it in the garbage -- it ends up in our water.
I have to agree with beautifulbc. I feed my cat high quality cat food because it reduces the cat's output. I found the hard way that Friskies kills my cats GI system because of all the fillers they put in it.
I think these big self cleaning boxes are a cool idea, but it just doesn't take that much time to clean up the old school non clumping litter box I have.
I tried Swheat Scoop litter, but it acted like little wheaty snow drifts that flowed from one room to the next. Whirls of cat touched wheat bits swirled around my floors. It might have been my mutant cat, but it just seemed light enough to take flight.
I personally use Yesterday's News, made from used newspapers. It doesn't track, is much more absorbent than the common clumping litter, and is flushable or compostable. For a while, I also made my own litter by boiling down newsprint into a pulp, which I would then break up and roll into small and manageable pellets with the same advantages as Yesterday's News, but less heavy. The only disadvantage was the mess the ink would make when it dissolved in the water I boiled the paper down in!
I need to check on the production of our litter, but my wife and I use feline pine. It is little wooden pellets that essentially crumble when wet and do not clumb on the litter. It absorbs the odor, and the cat seems to like it.
hmm... What an interesting invention. I'm planning on getting a cat when I move in a month and a half-- what a great addition to my new place this could be!
We are a multiple cat household and use clay litter, the non-clumping type. I can't imagine my cats would like this contraption and would be totally freaked out if it started cleaning itself while they were useing it. Clay litter, by the way, composts nicely. We've been using it as an additive to our ornamental gardens for many years so none or ours goes to the dump anyway. I wonder also why we might want to add another electrical appliance when we're trying to cut back on electrical use?
I think the best way is to teach your cats to use the toilet. No litter at all. There is a lot of information on the internet about how to do it. I've taught 3 cats. One took 2-3 weeks. One took about 2 months and the other took about 3 months. It can be pretty difficult, depending on how you do it and the nature of your cats but when you're through--no litter! and when you go away for 2 or 3 days: just flush when you come back.
Our cats make a mistake now and then (on the bathroom floor, poopie only) but even that's easier and less messy than dealing with a litter box.
I think if I had to use litter, I'd be tempted to try to do what this machine does but manually with a strainer and clean little rocks in the bathtub or something.
Can you change the Cat Genie link to one that doesn't go straight to the printer? No need to waste paper just to pull up a web page.
Can you change the Cat Genie link to one that doesn't go straight to the printer? No need to waste paper just to pull up a web page.
To reduce "pawprint," you could go even further and dump the processed cat food altogether. I raised my cat on locally-produced meat and recipes from a feline nutrition book. Her vet was impressed by the quality of her coat and her growth as a kitten! There's less cost to ship the food to you as you're buying local and (hopefully) supporting family farms.
Sadly, I gave up cooking for my cat when I moved in with a man who owned cats that only eat processed food. As a compromise, I feed Nature's Promise as it's a high-quality food and the company has a philosophy that jives with me.
Honestly, though, the best way to reduce your cat's carbon footprint is to have your cat spayed or neutered. Reducing breeding means fewer pets being supported and/or euthanized in shelters.
I have been trying to find cat litter that doesn't have a lot of dust. I have tried them all. Also, the previous comments have listed cat food that is high quality. Could you name a few?
I will try the silver microfibre cloth- I have had cats and the smell if they go on the carpet is awful- I also have another solution- I use interfaceflor carpet squares. If I can't get the smell out, then I can replace the carpet square. Interfaceflor will take back the carpet square. All you have to do is return it to a UPS store and Interfaceflor pays for the shipping!
I'll add my support for high-quality food as well. It makes a HUGE difference. My cats started off on grocery store junk (that came with them when I got them, so I used it up) and we tried several brands over the years. Do NOT underestimate what a difference it makes! We now feed raw and it's even better.
As for the size of the CatGenie, honestly it looks ridiculously small. Maybe the picture above is misleading but would, say, a Norwegian Forest Cat even fit in there when it needs to go? And those shallow sides are just screaming for my cats to throw all those permapellets out. I don't see how it could work for me.
Lastly, a word of advice about Swheat Scoop: your experience with it will vary significantly depending on where you are. Humidity plays a big role. Try it, and if you don't like it, you don't like it. But the experience of some random person on the internet may have absolutely no correlation to your own experience! I haven't noticed such a wide array of experiences with any other litter, but those who love it LOVE it. I sure did when the geography worked for me. ;-)
Huh?
If your healthy cat needs to use kitty littler the whole time you shouldn't be keeping a cat.
It's just not fair on the poor thing. There are ways to train cats not to use kitty litter once they're able to go outside: talk to your local vet.
Only the young or infirm should need kitty littler full time.
"it's like how treehugger has stories on ways to drive better, when we should all be taking our bikes anyway." Not quite the context sarahsoo meant, but I can't think of a better way of putting it.
We tried one of these and only 1 of our cats used it. In addition it used fresh drinking water which i wasn't keen on. So what's the alternative. We use the Tidy cat breeze with some modifications. I put yesterday's news in the top and in the drawer so all that's being wasted is recycled newspaper that can later be composted or tilled into the soil. Not worth the money or the water IMHO.
We tried one of these and only 1 of our cats used it. In addition it used fresh drinking water which i wasn't keen on. So what's the alternative. We use the Tidy cat breeze with some modifications. I put yesterday's news in the top and in the drawer so all that's being wasted is recycled newspaper that can later be composted or tilled into the soil. Not worth the money or the water IMHO.
We've used both World's Best and SwheatScoop with great success. My husband prefers SwheatScoop, so that's the one we have adopted for our 4 cats. No mess, clumps well, no smell.
NatureMill ( mentioned earlier on Treehugger http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/03/naturemill_lowe.php)
has come out with a version of their automatic composter that is geared to handle pet waste. If you use the types of litter mentioned above or pine pellets, like we do, the system will handle that too, along with your kitchen scraps.
We have a Cat Genie. It does take up a lot of space so we keep it in the laundry room. It also clogs quite easily and is a huge pain to clean. We regret purchasing it. We also use World's Best Cat Litter that is made from corn because Riley does not like the Cat Genie. Much less of a pain to keep clean.
I feed high quality food, which also cuts down on her furballs, and use PaPurr scoopable litter made from recycled paper. It is flushable and most bags have little dust. (I have found that the dust issue is sporadic and have determined that it may be a few bad batches...)
PaPurr is small granuales and feels like clay, my cat loves it! I used to use the flushable Arm & Hammer but when they discontinued it about 18-20 months ago, I tried all of the natual ones available to no avail, she hated everything and held it in for two months! (I exaggerate, but not much - it was a stressful time) I finally found PaPurr and we both couldn't be happier.
Make sure to get the scoopable, because the regular is not so hot.
Why are your pet-related product suggestions always ridiculous!?! It is much more eco-friendly to simply switch to a litter that doesn't use clay, like FelinePine or Yesterday's News, instead of using valuable water and energy resources to flush cat pee!
This post is an epic fail.
There are quite a few ways to cut corners on your cat's paw-print.
Choosing natural or organic foods is a good start, limiting the usage of environmental nasties in the production as well as paying off with less filler in your cat's tummy. If this natural food is made geographically close to you, even better.
Natural litter is a good choice, for the same production reasons as food. It is better for your cat with fewer irritating chemicals and better for the environment, as it is also likely flushable and less likey to end up in landfills.
Some folks feel they need to leave a light or the television on for their cats when they leave the house. I'd be willing to bet those folks aren't reading treehugger, so I won't even address this one.
Sticking with a manual litter box instead of an automatically cleaning box will save power, though the contraption highlighted in the article looks to offset it's disadvantages quite easily.
Using a small rug around the box to catch tracked litter and putting the dust back in the box is a better alternative than vacuuming the area.
Finally, I will reiterate the previous poster's suggestion to avoid purchasing cat toys and instead use things that would otherwise become household waste. This saves on packaging and all of the carbon pollution that went into producing these toys.
To wrap that all up, it is entirely possible to spoil your cat and keep it eco-friendly and sustainable.
1. As much as you may love them, skip the cremation and have a good old fashioned funeral in the back yard. This may creep some people out, but it doesn't take any more energy than using a shovel and finding a big rock for a headstone.
2. Feed them an all natural organic food. Remember that cats and dogs are primarily carnivores and need meat to be able to digest properly. Choose foods with no "by-products" and other nasty ingredients (if you won't ingest them, why feed them to your loved ones?), and foods that have no imported ingredients (especially from China- this may be hard to uncover and may require a call to the company). Also, please remember that cats (especially) do not naturally eat fish!
3. Use an organic-type litter (Swheat Scoop, The Worlds Best Cat Litter- corn based, recycled newspaper), or a product that does not use litter at all (like the Cat Genie!).
4. Adopt from a shelter instead of buying from a breeder or pet store.
5. If there is ambient light entering your home from street lights, don't leave lights on for pets or use night lights (even LED ones). Cats cannot see in the dark, but see 7 times better than a human can in low light, so the street lights may be enough for you pet to find the litter box at night.
6. Don't leave TV's or radio's on to "keep them company" while you are away. An open window shade and a nice wide window sill or table to sit on can keep a cat amused for hours on end. Passing birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc... will provide ample entertainment while keeping them (and your pet) safe from harm.
7. Make your own pet toys whenever you can. Crumpled up junk mail or packing paper (even biodegradable packing peanuts) works well for cats. It's light and easy to bat around, and makes a crinkle sound they love when played with. Just watch you are not giving your pet anything with inks or glues on it! Used pieces of natural rope, old bed sheets, and jeans work well for dogs when knotted.
8. Holistic vets may seem like a better choice, but you will spend a lot more money with them than you will for a traditional vet. They may also misdiagnose symptoms and cause you to use much more natural products than necessary to cure the wrong thing (as was the case with one of my cats- she had food allergies that the holistic vet was trying to treat as a cancer). A tradition vet may may very well be less "carbon friendly", but in the end the treatment length may be much shorter and consume less products.
9. Build your own dog houses and sew your own pet beds out of used materials (like old sheets, comforters, coat linings, etc...). Scrap wood can be had at nearly any new home construction site or large renovation project. Just be sure you are being safe when recovering any materials (wear gloves, long sleeves, jeans, boots), and that you are actually taking scrap material! You can even make your own safety gates, pet carriers/cages, and climbing towers for cats too! (Can you tell I'm a cat person!)
The cat genie is great! Think about how much less clay gets throw into landfills. I myself love this thing. It gets jammed every now and then but the instructions that come with it are great and it is just so much better then scooping poop!
We have 3 cats and use Feline Pine. I tried out Swheat and Yesterdays news, but found Feline Pine made the least mess and covered the smell the best.
Feline Pine is shaped like large pellets, 1/4-1/2 inches long, so anything that is tracked out of the box can be picked up and put back in.
Used litter and kitty waste goes into biodegradable trash bags (http://www.ecoproducts.com/Home/home_biobags/home_biobags_trashcan.htm) so they have a chance of breaking down in the landfill (live in an apartment, no outside compost options.).
The litter that is not used in box is added to the non edible plants in the house.
(Quick explanation- Feline Pine that absorbs urine breaks down into sawdust. Unused pellets stay whole and breakdown in the planters.)
Although this new invention sounds fantastic (trust me, I'm the last person who wants to clean my cats litter box) there is an issue with the toxoplasmosis at hand. It certainly is a non-issue in the human sector. But unfortunately, for those of us living along the California coast, it is a HUGE issue for the rest of the biota.
Take a look at this great project called the Golden Gate National Recreation Endangered Species Big Year Project. In it you will see why the Southern Sea Otter is having such a hard time coming back into existence.. http://ggnrabigyear.org/seaotter.html
And who would want to get rid of such a cute critter like that? Certainly, sending all that cat litter to the dump is not the perfect answer. But flushing it isn't either. And once again, as human beings we need to step back and take a look at the consequences of our actions before we jump full force into another "GREEN" adventure.
toxoplasmosis is a very serious problem if you live on the west coast, because toxoplasmosis infects sea otters, a species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. There are actually labeling laws warning people not to flush kitty litter because of it.
see http://ggnrabigyear.org/seaotter.html
This does not look like a good option. It uses electricity and clean water in order to function.
We have 9 cats. They use pine pellet. We went a step better (more frugal) than Feline Pine and such and instead buy pine pellet horse bedding (same thing) for about $5.50 for a 30lb bag. Lasts us months, even with 9 cats.
The pine absorbs odor well, is soft on their paws, and breaks down to very light sawdust.
Even with 9, we only put out our (1) garbage can (and it's full when we do) once every week and a half.
J-Mo
I was going to train my cats to use the toilet because I would not be using cat litter and plastic bags. That would have reduced my cat's carbon paw print significantly, and it would have saved me money, too! However, I tried to train them to do that, but they were not adjusting to it very well.
Recently, I was participating in some forums on the Internet, and one of the other participants mentioned the CatGenie. I looked it up on www.catgenie.com, and I fell in love with its concept. I liked the fact I would not be buying clay clumping cat litter, and that it uses washable granules instead that never need replaced, only replenished. I also liked the fact that it uses the solution to sanitize the granules and the box. This is so much more hygienic for my cats and myself.
I read the reviews on the product, and although some people had issues with clogging and parts malfunctioning, I still think this might be worth a try. Most of the reviews were good. I recognize that it is only a machine, and like my mechanically-inclined father always told me, every machine will malfunction at some point. It is pretty expensive-$300 on catgenie.com, and at least $200.00 on other websites. It's hard to even get a used one on E-Bay for less than $200.00. Boy, it would be nice to win one, and not on E-Bay!
I have been going green lately. I have been replacing all my 60 watt bulbs with the 13 watt flourescent bulbs to save electricity. I was discussing with a friend at work about cat litter and how its damaging the environment. The clumping clay litters can even be harmful to cats and humans alike. The dust contains a carcinogen that our lungs cannot get rid of, and can cause silicosis. I realized that I am breathing in this dust when I use this kind of litter. It is all over the furniture in my house when I dust, so I know it's in the air. When I told my friend this, she said she was going to use recyclable newspapers instead of cat litter. I gave her some newspapers that I had piling up so that she could shred them for her cats use. I was thinking of using another kind of litter like Feline Pine. I would need to use something biodegradeable and dust-free. This kind of litter would not harm me or my cats, and would be more environmentally-friendly.
I also am buying more natural, organic foods for my cats because they don't contain artificial additives, which means they are a healthier choice for my cats.
I was also thinking of buying an automatic pet feeder and waterer. I would think since I would be dispensing the food and water only as needed, there would be less waste. The food and water would stay fresher, too. This would work great if I need to go on vacation for a few days this summer.
These are just a few ways I am reducing my cats carbon paw print.
Is this contest still running? I just stumbled on this and would be THRILLED to have our cats go green, since our 2 kids, dog, and husband and I already have, and while we've switched to the world's best cat litter, I still feel badly throwing feces into a landfill and using corn for litter (when we have major food supply issues going on worldwide).
Has a winner been picked?