Is it Possible to Go Zero Waste with Cat Waste?
Yes – It totally is! Here’s our experience making zero waste shredded paper cat litter.
Before we brought Bella home (short for “Portabella” like the mushrooms, and not a Twilight reference) we had some prepping to do. We were excited to have a new “bundle of fur” but we didn’t know how to overcome some of the waste associated with having a pet. We were trying to move toward creating less waste – avoiding plastics, packaging, and buying processed goods. Saving money was another priority. At first we thought it would be difficult, after all there are entire stores dedicated to pet stuff. Canned and bagged food, toys, medicines, shampoos, oh and the poop! What were we going to do about POOP?
Traditionally people use cat litter right? Big boxes or bags of sand-like stuff that you lug home from the store, let your cat poop in, scoop out, and throw away (often in plastic bags). Some cat litter contains artificial scents and additives, some is made with silica crystals (that moisture absorbent stuff you find in little packets inside shoe boxes labeled DO NOT EAT).
Considering how heavy cat litter is, plus all of the fuel used to ship it to all of the homes and stores around the world, we decided that traditional cat litter wasn’t really an eco-friendly option. We also considered a few other options – everything from coffee grounds to sawdust – before settling on paper. If anyone has experience on other options we would love to hear about it in the comments!
Does shredded paper really work for cat litter?
Honestly I had my doubts that it would work. Cats can be very particular about their litter boxes. When we first brought Bella home she was almost 2 years old and had always used regular kitty litter. We were given a box of cat litter when we got her, which we were happy to use initially to make sure she did not have an accident. We brought her home, showed her the litter box of regular cat litter under the bathroom sink, and thankfully she knew what to do. The second day came and went without a problem as well. Phew!
By the third day of having her we were ready to start trying the shredded paper approach. Looking for a smooth transition, we filled the box halfway with litter and topped it off with shredded paper. Our plan was to slowly wean her off of the litter over the course of a month or so until she was completely switched over to paper. However that plan was abandoned on day four when the Mr. (sick of sandy cat litter getting stuck to his feet every time he walked into the bathroom) decided to go all in, paper-only. We crossed our fingers and held our breath and on her fourth day home Bella was switched to all paper.
Ladies and gentlemen we are SO happy to say we haven’t had an accident since!
Now will this work for all cats? I don’t know. BUT, as a skeptic turned believer I totally recommend you give it a try !
Benefits of Shredded Paper as Kitty Litter
Repurposed
Shredded paper litter takes something you were going to dispose of and gives it new life.
FREE Cat Litter $$
There is literally no buying anything, no shipping heavy cat litter to your door, and no last minute trips to the store if you run out
Differences between shredded paper and conventional cat litter:
With shredded paper, you won’t have grainy cat litter all over the floor.
Probably my favorite part! Sand between your toes is great at the beach but awful when it gets kicked out of a litter box. With the shredded paper method, you’ll occasionally get a few shreds of paper that is tracked out of the box, but those are MUCH easier to spot and clean up than tiny grains of sand.
The smell is … different.
Okay real talk: If you use the shredded paper method it definitely smells more poopy and less cat-litter-y. I still haven’t found a way around this (besides keeping the litter box in the bathroom where poopy smells are expected) though baking soda in the box seems to help a little. You may want to keep this in mind if you won’t be home or won’t be able to change the box for longer periods of time.
The best way to avoid smell is to be on top of cleaning – which is good thing anyway. Cat boxes, no matter what type of litter you’re using, need to be cleaned regularly. If they’re too dirty cats will not use them. With traditional cat litter you do get odor masking benefits that you don’t get with shredded paper. The issue with that is, you may let the litter box go without changing longer than you really should. Have you ever walked into someones house (or your own house) and immediately smelled a litter box, while everyone already in the house seemed oblivious to it? It might not smell like poop, but it definitely smells at least like litter masking poop. Kind of like when a human sprays an air freshener and it just smells like poop PLUS added chemicals …Maybe less poopy but extra confusing to your nose.
Where to get more paper for shredded paper cat litter
You may find that you’re running low on paper at times. At home we get a little bit of junk mail, a few flyers, and 1 magazine/month addressed to the people who lived in our place before us. Because we unsubscribed to almost all paper mail, we found we didn’t have as much paper waste as we needed for shredded paper cat litter. (But hooray for less waste!) My other job, however, had quite a bit of paper waste. If you’re running low on scrap paper, check with work, friends, or neighbors. Unfortunately there is A LOT of paper waste in this world. Fortunately you can give it a second life making shredded paper cat litter!
Let us know if you end up trying it! Drop a comment on our Facebook Page and let us know how the shredded paper cat litter worked for you.
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Hi,
I’m curious about the scooping process. I love the idea but running a scoop through tractionless shredding is hard to imagine. Do you have a particular technique?
Hi Renee,
Awesome question! If it’s just a poo, we’ve found that big tongs work best. The paper sticks to the poo and can just be grabbed and tossed away. Our kitty really likes a clean box though so we usually dump the entire box completely into an outdoor bin once a day and refill it with new paper. It keeps things smelling fresh as well 🙂
Hi! Just stumbled across this article. I’ve wanted to transition my cat care to more sustainable practices. I was wondering how you dispose of the dirty litter (or paper). We use plastic bags from the grocery store to collect the cat poo and toss it. But I would rather not have to use so much plastic.
Hey Katherine! Awesome that you’re making such changes with your kitty! We’re in the process of looking for an alternative offering to traditional plastic bags for pet waste. It seem that so many of the bags that claim to be earth friendly actually aren’t, so it has been quite a challenging find. Hopefully we’ll have a great solution for you soon! <3
I’m really interested in trying this. I HATE CLAY LITTER.
The chemicals cause me to have sinus congestion and it’s so hard to clean. I’ve also heard of using a soil litter box, and just “composting” everything in a specific pile away from your regular compost or garden.
As a side note to those asking, I recommend reusing your litter boxes, food bags, etc to toss waste. Or using paper shopping bags.
Wonderful advice Kristin! Composting with a soil litter box sounds like a great idea! As long as it’s not near a food garden like you mentioned. If anyone is curious – cat feces can contain Toxoplasma Gondii, a parasite which can be harmful to humans, particularly pregnant women. Would love to know if anyone has tried a soil litter box!
As far as reusing bags to toss waste, if you’ve given up plastic grocery bags but still have occasional bags from food packaging (bread, etc.) then those could work great!
We’ve just learned about a completely plant based bag which we’re looking to add to eco girl shop in pet cleanup size. – Stay tuned! <3 XOXO
Thank you for this article!
I have seven cats and I’ve been wondering how to reduce waste and save money. I’m going to try this out. My office job produces so so so much paper waste and I am happy to repurpose it.
Awesome Crystalann! 🙂
It has been super satisfying knowing that our excess office paper will be put to more use. It’s also weirdly therapeutic for me to shred some of these old projects/accounts at times. Haha, Enjoy! <3
My cat had leg surgery so was advised to used the shredded paper till stitches came out (10 year old tom cat but now indoor). He took to it immediately for pee, a couple of days for poop. After he pees i spray some natures miracle just a few squirts and mix it up. At night He scrapes it all into a big pile for me so next morning i empty it all ( I only use enough paper for one day). I have a small dust pan and brush after throwing the litter i spray a little of the natures miracle advance formula in the box and use the brush to wipe it all down. I have a home depot bucket with a plastic bag after i dump it in the bucket i give it one squirt of the spray. I empty the bucket once a week so few bags. No odor, love watching him poop on my mortgage bill so worth it all.
I almost choked on my tea when you said you love watching him poop on your mortgage bill! Haha! <3
That's great to hear that he took to it right away. Sounds like you and your cat have a great system in place. Thank you so much for sharing your story!
I started our cats out on shredded paper 4 years ago and now as cats, they prefer it to the dirt outside. It’s funny, but when I bring them back inside after a nice day outside, the first place they go is to the litter boxes to do their business (and in a hurry, I might add). It’s like they’ve been holding themselves all day waiting to get to their favorite place to go.
That’s so funny Jan!! They certainly sound like clean cats who know what they like! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing
Just read this article and I’d like to comment. I actually use a combination of shredded paper and shredded cardboard. The cardboard does a better job of absorbing and trapping odors because it’s thicker. And let’s face it, cardboard is all around us. I use my household shredder to shred one to two boxes a month along with loads of junk mail. I think the cardboard also works well for multi cat households too. And, if you want, you can add the following essential oils, which are safe for cats, in a spritzer bottle with water. They are lavender, copaiba, helichrysum, and frankincenseand are all perfectly safe. I have a large spritzer bottle that holds 32 fluid ounces of water, which I picked up at a home depot or lowes. I add 1/2 tsp of lavender essential oil to this. Shake it around, and lightly spray the littler box after collection. Lavender is safe around cats and this lavender, is highly diluted so it won’t bother the cats. And it will dry and leave your littler box with a light, lavender fragrance that is au naturale.
Hey Mark! LOVE the shredded cardboard and essential oil idea for odor absorption! Can’t wait to try this!
My cat got eye cysts from fresh step, think the silica did it. Switching to shredded paper to avoid expensive vet visits. Hope it helps…they recommended an eye cyst biopsy..about $500, yikes!
Oh wow Donna! I’m so sorry to hear that <3<3 I hope your kitty feels better ASAP and wish you lots of luck with the shredded paper alternative!
I’ve trained our two cats to use shredded paper and they do fine. I’ve tried to compost the littler, not for the garden, but for flower beds and tree plantings. The problem I’ve had is the compost pile is like turning paper mache. Any suggestions?
I use news paper( you usually get yesterday news paper for free) . That what I have to do with my cat for a couple of weeks
So glad I found this website. Tax season is coming and I can shred my old records that are older than 10 years. Law says 7 years, current law for non-nothing to file as 4 years. But I am old school. Got records older than 10 years old, so look out kitty. Here comes your new litter stash.
Hahahaha I’m cracking up over here. Happy shredding to you!!
Warning: candid references to poop ahead
Similar to Bjean, was advised to switch to paper pellets after a paw wound fix. I was running low on the pellets and noticed the shredded paper next to my desk. A google search “can shredded paper be used as cat litter” lead me here. Happy to try it out.
Some interesting notes: The cat did not take to paper pellets. He had ripped off the bandage and the doctor recommended to let air dry. So the switch to paper pellets from clay was cold. After a day and the bin being undisturbed, I was getting a little anxious. Day 2, bin was still not touched. I couldn’t let him out as he could get dirt into his wound. This called for desperate measures. I had to “seed” the litter box with poop that I retrieved from bag in the poop genie. End of day 2 – success.
Genius!!!! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing that!
Wishing that kitty paw a smooth recovery! <3
I started our new cat on shredded newspaper right away. I lay two pieces of newspaper in the kitty litter box and then add shredded. This way I just roll up the newspaper and compost it (bury it in our back yard) or put it in a bucket to bury later. I am wondering if city compost would take it?
I use a mixture of wood pellets (the most absorbent and sold in a paper bag), shredded paper and hamster bedding. I also bought paper pellets and it seems like papier mache rolled up and dried, i think I’ll try to make them myself, but it sounds messy, and it might take long to dry
So many brilliant ideas. I’ve been trying to find a way of recycling my shredded paper and was wondering if it would work as cat litter and then came across this site and discovered that it had already been tried and tested. My cat is a bit suspicious of it but a combination of shredded paper mixed with his normal biodegradable litter seems to work, saves on cat litter and is biodegradable.