Cat Litter and Strip Mining
I was quite shocked to discover that what we give our cats to do their business in (cat litter) wreaks a massive toll on the environment.
I don’t own a cat, but I do use kitty litter for other purposes – under the barbecue and soaking up some messes. I was looking at my bag of cat litter today and thinking “so, what’s in this stuff”?
The most common cat litter in use today is made from a natural clay, also known as “diatomaceous earthâ€, or sodium bentonite. It’s formed into pellets and then dried. The pellets absorb several times their dry weight in moisture.
I originally thought that whatever the substance was that made up kitty litter, it was most likely the by-product of some other process. Unfortunately, this type of clay is targeted by mining companies for this specific purpose; using a process called strip mining.
