Do you have a cat in your home? If you have a furry companion and you are looking for ways to make your home more sustainable, you might want to consider switching up your pet's bathroom routine. There has been a new movement in the litter box world to abandon disposable litter and switch to a washable litter--ultimately eliminating the need to flush pet waste and throw used cat litter into landfills.

The Cat Genie is the only reusable-litter box that is entirely self-flushing and self-cleaning (eliminating the undesirable task of manually cleaning used litter--something I would personally go to great lengths to avoid ever doing). According to the Cat Genie manufacturers, traditional cat litter is detrimental to the environment because it:

  •Is strip-mined and needs 2000 degrees of heat to process

  •Uses more energy and money for transporting than it is worth

  •Pollutes landfills with 8 billion pounds of non-biodegradable waste per year. In other words, if you have two cats, you buy, carry, and throw away about 336 pounds of litter each year.

(For more information about the detrimental effects of cat litter, click here).

The Cat Genie uses washable granules that never need changing, only occasional replenishing. The granules are washed with water and a "SaniSolution" to keep them fresh. The box can be hooked up to your current plumbing system, a private septic tank or otherwise.

Think about switching to a litter alternative in your home! Or even try toilet training your cat (yes, it can be done). By getting rid of disposable litter, you can cut down your household's yearly waste by a significant amount, and can free yourself from a handful of trips to the store.

For more information on how to be a more environmentally friendly pet owner, check out Pets Gone Green: Live a More Eco-conscious Life With Your Pet

Photo credit: ucdavis.edu