In comments on the bag shyness post, Kristen said:

I’ll be honest: Even though I own several reusable shopping bags, I seldom use them. The reason? I have three cats, and I use plastic grocery bags when I clean the litterbox because I can tie them up when I’m done.

Sorry I’m picking on you Kristen, but I think this is a great topic. We’ve talked about green cat litter here, but we haven’t spent much time on litter disposal.

It’s difficult to think about buying a biodegradable bag for cat waste disposal when you can get plastic bags for free at the store. However, plastic bags (the ones offered now that are made with petroleum) may not always be free or even legal. As awareness is spreading about the pollution caused by plastic bags, more cities and countries are outlawing them. Ideally, all stores will start offering biodegradable bags made from corn. Or even more ideally, all consumers will take their own bags.

I use Feline Pine, and they recommend disposing of solid cat waste daily, then getting rid of the litter when it’s spent. Feline Pine is flushable, but it’s not recommended.

Ways to avoid disposing of cat litter

• Flushing — The Sea Otter Alliance cautions against flushing cat waste and litter. Sea otters are becoming infected with Toxoplasma. Also, Nature’s Earth, makers of Feline Pine, says, “… we at Nature’s Earth strongly urge our customers to dispose of their cat’s feces in the garbage — especially if you live in a coastal community.”

• Composting — Cat waste can be toxic. You don’t want it in your veggie garden.

Greener cat litter disposal

• Biodegradable corn-based cat pan liners from BioBag — This solves the problem of what to do with spent litter in a handy way, but it doesn’t help with the daily poop scooping.

• A recycled paper bag — Some stores like Whole Foods now offer these. I’m not saying to stop taking your own bags, but maybe skip occasionally to stock up. I feel so guilty saying that!

While BioBags can take care of litter disposal, the problem of cat poop disposal isn’t easily solved. While traditional plastic bags offered at most stores aren’t biodegradable, they require less energy to make than virgin paper bags. If you use a paper bag, everything will break down in the landfill. I’m going to also offer another option on cat waste disposal.

Greener cat waste disposal

• Use a BioBag pooper bag designed for dogs. It’s biodegradable, same as the litter pan liners. Take this directly to your garbage bin.

Hmm, I was going to suggest using a separate pet trash can lined with a recycled paper bag or BioBag kitchen bag, but I think odor would be a problem.

How do you dispose of your cat’s litter/waste?

Image via flickr.

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That’s one way to reuse a plastic bag, but doing so preserves the poop instead of letting it biodegrade. Can you picture that? Mummified dog poop. Plus, if you remember your reusable shopping bags, you won’t have plastic shopping bags on hand anyway. Not to mention, plastic bags are on their way out as many retailers are starting to encourage reusable shopping bags.

A friendlier option is to put your doggie’s poo into a BioBag, the first compostable and biodegradable (paper and plastic free) poop bags ever. They are made from GMO-free corn.

According to BioBag, your options for disposal widen to include burying or composting (can include with your yard waste in many communities). Composting those plastic grocery store bags just wouldn’t work.

Since cat waste is toxic, composting it isn’t recommended, but BioBag sells biodegradable litter pan liners for disposal.

BioBag dog waste bags are available from a variety of sources, including Urban Leash and Treat who sells them for $5.60 for 50 bags.

Would you try BioBags for your dog?

Image via BioBag.

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