In the video, I did not discuss the impact of mass producing each brand (pine, wheat, newspaper and corn) in detail. If you know more about how the company collects and processes each type of litter, please share.
Out of the four, it appears old newspapers makes the least (possibly zero?) impact, however it is known that the company, Purina, that produces Yesterday's News is owned by Nestle, one of the worst companies when it comes to the environment.
Another topic I did not discuss in my vlog: Packaging is also important. Swheat Scoop, Yesterday's News and Feline Pine usually comes in paper (with plastic inner sheath) bags, while World's Best Cat Litter comes in a 100% plastic bag. Since they are natural cat litter companies, I find it very ironic that none of them package their litter in biodegradable paper printed with alternative/natural inks to lessen their impact on earth.
Of course, the best type of litter may simply just be the outdoors. That in itself opens up another package of eco-dilemmas (e.g. impact of cats on bird/reptile/amphibian populations and the food chain).
I think the most ideal solution would be to toilet train cats. This way you cut down on the transportation and manufacturing impact of shipping the litter to the store to your home. You also save a good 5 minutes per day cleaning litter. You also save the little bags that you use to put soiled litter in. You also save your time cleaning the litter boxes out every month or so. The downside is the discussion that bacteria from cat feces can contaminate and kill sea otters!
Stepping off my box. Your thoughts?
P.s. The software I used to edit this movie is called ScreenFlow 2.0. This is my first attempt (not a very good one at that, I haven't learned how to use transitions/action video). User friendly software with plenty of possibilities! Hat tip to Matthew Malzkuhn.
