Where is cat litter made

According to Wikipedia, non-clumping cat litters are usually made of zeolite, diatomite and sepiolite. Though clumping litter is a natural product, it is harvested by strip mining, a decidedly unfriendly process.

Over two million tons of clay are mined in the United States every year, just to be turned into cat litter. The clay—or sodium bentonite, more specifically—is obtained via strip mining, requiring massive amounts of soil and rock to be moved in order to access the mineral seam underneath.

The result is a giant hole in the ground that needs to be filled and then returned to something resembling a natural state. The Wyoming Mining Association confirms that bentonite is mined via surface mining.

Surface mining is an environmentally destructive form of mineral removal that removes the entire layer of topsoil or mountain, depending on the mineral being mined. Greenpeace says that there are many environmental impacts from surface mining:. It has been suggested that clumping cat litter can cause digestive harm if ingested by cats while cleaning, but the studies are inconclusive.

Contact the reporter. Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication. Engage with us on Twitter. The power is now in your nitrile gloved hands Sign up for a free account to increase your articles. Or go unlimited with ACS membership. Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need. Don't miss out. Renew your membership, and continue to enjoy these benefits. Not Now. Grab your lab coat. Let's get started Welcome! It seems this is your first time logging in online. Please enter the following information to continue.

As an ACS member you automatically get access to this site. All we need is few more details to create your reading experience. Not you? Sign in with a different account. Need Help? Membership Categories. Various ingredients such as baking soda and charcoal may be added to the cat litter to help with odor control.

Traditional clay litter must be cleaned and changed often. These litters do not form clumps that are easily removed with a scoop, so normally the entire litter box must be emptied, cleaned, and the cat litter replaced at least once a week. The addition of a special type of clay, known as bentonite, does allow the litter to clump when it becomes wet. This type of clay-based litter has become known as clumping litter as opposed to the traditional non-clumping clay litter which contains other forms of clay rather than bentonite.

With clumping cat litter, individual clumps of soiled litter can be easily removed with a scoop, along with the fecal matter deposited in the litter box. As a result, litter boxes filled with clumping litter can be replenished regularly to replace the soiled litter that is removed and do not need to be emptied and completely filled with fresh litter as frequently as non-clumping litters.

For some cat owners, clay cat litters, either clumping or non-clumping, are a good choice of cat litter. But there are other options available. Crystallized cat litters are formed from a silica gel. Seiler, Michael. Walker, Jesse H. Masculinity and the Cat Litter Industry Although advertisers marketed and continue to market cat litter to women more on that later , the production of cat litter has been a masculine enterprise.

Next: Life Before Cat Litter. Explore the history of disposability through object stories. Twitter Facebook.