{"id":17972,"date":"2024-12-09T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=17972"},"modified":"2024-12-09T10:24:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T10:24:54","slug":"what-kind-of-cat-litter-is-best-for-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=17972","title":{"rendered":"What Kind of Cat Litter Is Best for the Planet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">House training cats is easy. Most will use a litter box instinctively before they\u2019re a month old. But what\u2019s the environmental cost of the litter they\u2019ll need over the years?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some new cat box fillers are marketed as more sustainable that conventional litters, including a few that claim to be flushable or compostable. (Spoiler: They\u2019re not.) Others are made from agricultural leftovers like walnut shells.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We\u2019ve dug deep to see which ones are good for your kitty and the environment. Here\u2019s what we learned.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-21401e0d\">The old-school option<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Conventional cat litter is made from bentonite, a remarkably absorbent clay. Much of the world\u2019s supply comes from strip mines in the Western United States, especially Wyoming.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Strip mining, in which machines remove the top layers of soil over a wide area to reach a mineral instead of tunneling, can destroy ecosystems, cause erosion and pollute water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Federal and state laws require bentonite mining operations to restore land they\u2019ve excavated. But many bentonite deposits occur underneath sagebrush grasslands, a scrubby yet biologically diverse habitat that supports Western species like pronghorn and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/08\/climate\/biden-sage-grouse-drilling-oil-environment.html\" title>greater sage grouse<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F09%2Fclimate%2Fenvironment-sustainability-kitty-litter.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F09%2Fclimate%2Fenvironment-sustainability-kitty-litter.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F09%2Fclimate%2Fenvironment-sustainability-kitty-litter.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F09%2Fclimate%2Fenvironment-sustainability-kitty-litter.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House training cats is easy. Most will use a litter box instinctively before they\u2019re a month old. But what\u2019s the environmental cost of the litter they\u2019ll need over the years?Some new cat box fillers are marketed as more sustainable that conventional litters, including a few that claim to be flushable or compostable. (Spoiler: They\u2019re not.) Others are made from agricultural leftovers like walnut shells.We\u2019ve dug deep to see which ones are good for your kitty and the environment. Here\u2019s what we learned.The old-school optionConventional cat litter is made from bentonite, a remarkably absorbent clay. Much of the world\u2019s supply comes from strip mines in the Western United States, especially Wyoming.Strip mining, in which machines remove the top layers of soil over a wide area to reach a mineral instead of tunneling, can destroy ecosystems, cause erosion and pollute water.Federal and state laws require bentonite mining operations to restore land they\u2019ve excavated. But many bentonite deposits occur underneath sagebrush grasslands, a scrubby yet biologically diverse habitat that supports Western species like pronghorn and greater sage grouse.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17974,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17975,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17972\/revisions\/17975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}