Composting Natural Cat Litter

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Wheat Litter Composts Easily

In a prior life I wrote primarily green, Eco, and organic. And while I still live this lifestyle, my writing has turned largely to dogs, with an Eco slant continuing in our lifestyle. Tanner, Oliver, Jacque and Patches all do their part, eating organic food and living as lightly on Earth as they are able.

Today I'd like to summarize and share some tips for composting cat litter that were begun at our recent #LitterChat Twitter Party for Swheat Scoop. Feel free to comment with your questions and I'll be happy to respond.

1. DO NOT try to compost clay litter or litter that contains ‘solids’. Always remove solids first. 
2. Micro-organisms in compost bins and piles do not break down proteins in kitty poo. Sift the litter well to remove.
3. Prepare for your most successful composting by triple sifting all solids. Yes, I've mentioned this 3 times! That's how important it is.
4. Compost bins require regular daily turns to circulate materials for faster composting. Turning your bit aerates the contents. Oxygen is imperative to the process. 
5. Compost piles on the ground are the most budget-savvy, but do require added effort to turn and cover. It's really not hard. Read on....
6. Compost piles on the ground require covers such as a heavy plastic bag or lg bin lid. 

   

   © AllThingsDogBlog.com
   Hidden Compost Behind Bushes and Pool Equipment

7. Best location is under an overhang of your roof.
8. Composting requires daily H2O by turning pile. Balance ingredients with dead or dry matter and food scraps.
9. To compost Swheat Scoop after sifting, add food scraps such as veggie ends and leftovers—NO proteins.
10. Best compost speed comes from balancing H2O, SwheatScoop and green matter like food scraps.
11. Easiest cat litter cleanup=recycled paper litterbox. Place box and contents in compost pile with food scraps.
12. No protein or fats in compost pile. Examples: eggs (shells are okay), meat, oil, cheese, fish, and bones.
13. Save fruit and veggie ends, peels and scraps for great compost. Also add coffee grounds for best pH balance. 
14. Healthy pH helps compost smell better and cycle faster.
15. Pickup FREE coffee grounds at your neighborhood Starbucks for healthier compost pH. 
16. Compost also helps with smell, keeping animals off the trail to your pile.
17. Compost is ready when all materials break down to look like a rough-textured soil or oatmeal.
18. How long till compost is ready? First batch is slowest, probably a few months. Aerate by stirring daily to aid speed.
19. Speed tip: Balance moisture, pH, dry and green matter. Stir and aerate often for fastest finished product.
20. Critter aler: If you live in an area with wildlife, fence pile and cover with chicken wire or wire garden fencing to make it difficult to get at the contents underneath.
21. What to do with finished compost? Add to flowers and veggie plants as soil enhancer and fertilizer. More blooms, healthier vegetation, more flavorful and healthier veggies and fruits.
22. Enjoy the flavor of home-grown herbs and vegetables that are organic. Yum!

Want to learn more about composting your household wastes to lessen your burden on the landfills? Here are some posts I've written on another site:

• Composting: What is It and Why Do I Do It?
• What Can I Put in My Compost?
• Selecting and Setting Up a Location for a Compost Pile
• Composting 101: Part III
• What Do I Do With Large Quantities of Material to Compost?
• More Compost Options
• Composting Doggie Doodie and Other Solutions
• Kitchen Compost Storage, Saving Paper Towels and More 10-Minute Tips
• Yard Waste Compost Piles
• Lighting a Fire Under My Compost
• Okay, I'll stop there. Visit Organic-Journey-Online.com for more.

 

Pet Lovers Win and Learn at #LitterChat

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Patches Models for Swheat Scoop

Who knew that an hour of litterbox chat could be so much fun?!!! The cat-loving world came out in droves last night to talk about their kitty litter issues and to get answers. While joining us at #LitterChat, sponsored by Swheat Scoop, guests won hundreds of dollars in Swheat Scoop kitty litter, high end litterboxes, organizers, toys and treats. A grand time was had by all!

@EventBarkers, @PetSandy and @SwheatScoop joined @AllThingsDog, @CatTipper and @DogTipper--to name a few--to bring an enormous amount of detailed information to families with litterbox dilemmas. I'm proud to say we provided solutions to dozens with cat litter problems that were easily solvable with expert advice. 

Thanks to @PetSandy for jumping in to share her expertise, while our Event Barkers team each shared a small niche of issues that are most familiar to us. Some of our guests even joined in to learn how to compost cat litter with @Learnin2BGreen. Yes, it's true! You can read up on how to do this at home in my post coming Sunday. I'll share the whole process and be happy to field questions.

Our winners grabbed some fancy cat litter boxes and loungers by @ImperialCat, @HelloModko and @PetSafe, and litterbox accessory organizers by Petlinks. Toys and treats went to a few winners and every winner took home a 14 lb. bag of @SwheatScoop natural wheat cat litter. Our Grand Prize winner really stole the show by nabbing an entire year's worth of Swheat Scoop along with other great prizes. 

Congratulations to the following winners: @Cammi72, @beaniewienies1, Joelle D., @idreamofJenn, @Emma__Peel, @EarthboundKitty, and our Grand Prize winner is @3whiskateers. If we don't have your shipping address yet, be sure to send it along promptly with your phone number for the shipper to EventBarkers@gmail.com.  Be sure to check out CatTipper's winner announcement here.

It's easy to say that #LitterChat was an extreme success with lots of great information and happy winners. If you missed it, we hope you'll consider subscribing to the Event Barkers newsletter to make sure you don't miss future events. 

And to those of you who found the Twitter Party atmosphere a little too fast-paced, you'll find help in the left sidebar of my site at the Twitter 101 posts that are listed there. Enjoy a good read before our next event. Best wishes.

Happy tails!

In our association with Event Barkers, we’re working with Swheat Scoop to share their products with our readers.

#LitterChat Prizes and Discussion Review

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

We may as well dream big, so let's start with the Grand Prize for tonight's event. Our #LitterChat winner will come away with a whole year of @SwheatScoop litter, along with toys, treats, and a terrific Purrfect Order litter accessory organizer to keep Meow's things all together. Wow!

Throughout the one-hour party, we'll be giving away great prizes beginning with our 8 PM ET opening until our 9 PM close--every 10 minutes! In this second collage, you'll find a wrap up of all the great stuff that can be won tonight. Major swag!

Want more information? Check out the details at this post about prize products, brands and more, including all the scoop on @SwheatScoop!

Now let's review your hosts and give you a heads up on who will be dishing what tonight:

#LitterChat Hosts and their Conversation Topics:

@EventBarkers:  Prize descriptions, pics and winner announcements. FYI, all winners will be chosen from those participating in the party. QandA is for learning and fun. You needn't answer correctly to win a prize :)
@CatTipper:  Our Event Barkers kitty aficionado will be sharing @SwheatScoop info
@PetSandy:  Our guest host will be answering questions for participants, as well as those that have been emailed to us during our pre-party period. 
@AllThingsDog:  Training tips for dogs in households where kitties also live
@DogTipper:  Multi Cat Family tips and conversation for litterbox problem-solving
@5MinutesforFido:  Oliver will be sharing Patches' tips on changing kitty litter brands
@Learning2BGreen:  Learn how to properly compost @SwheatScoop in your home compost pile, recycling into a nourishing soil enrichment for your garden
@SwheatScoop will be mingling and chatting. Feel free to say hello!

Now's your last chance to get in on our pre-party prizes. There are 3 opportunities to win: RSVP, Rafflecopter giveaway and PreTweet drawing. Get going now; the clock is ticking!

Pssst! Just in case you're worried about what happens if Twitter goes down, you can read our back up plan here. 

All Things Dog Blog, along with DogTipper.com in our Event Barkers partnership, are producing #LitterChat to help them build their online presence and knowledge of their product.

Pet Solutions: Kitty Litter Transitioning

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Patches Eyes Her New Setup

We're back with our final episode in the Swheat Scoop story. Having evaluated this product, it is now time to put it to the test with Patches in the driver's seat.

Transitioning Patches to her new litter was definitely not a problem. She's curious, of course, but not unwilling to boldly go where no Meow has gone before. I brought home a pressed paperboard litterbox--the kind that is totally biodegradable--and placed the Swheat Scoop inside. Putting this new box near her old one, I let her first get used to its presence. As most cats will do, she ignored it!

Over the coming days I removed a cup or two of litter from Patches' old box each day.

courtesy P.Permenter
Success at Last!

Soon it was looking pretty sparse and she was beginning to wonder where tomorrow's deposit would go. I sprinkled some catnip around the edge of the new box and she dutifully followed it, rolling and frolicking like a kitten. 

Patches' next meal was served inside the new litterbox, and with a dollup of something yummy-smelling (pick your kitty's favorite) she was immediately inside the box chowing down. Before she knew it, she had bonded with her new box. Food has a way of doing that! The old box mysteriously disappeared, being replaced with the new one. Success!

For another take on switching up your kitty litter, check out CatTipper's suggestions here.

To make sure you're ready for Tuesday's Twitter Party, here's a cheat sheet of sites to follow, read and get the scoop on:

Swheat Scoop on Facebook
Swheat Scoop on Twitter
Swheat Scoop on Pinterest
Swheat Scoop on Instagram
Don't forget to RSVP before July 16 to qualify for the drawing and win at the party
Join in the PreTweeting for a chance to win
Enter the Rafflecopter drawing for a fun prize for Meow

Swheat Scoop is sponsoring an Event Barkers Twitter Party on July 16. All Things Dog Blog,  DogTipper.com and CatTipper.com are hosting in our effort to educate cat owners about their litter.

This Pet Family Loves Swheat Scoop

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Patches Lives Green and Natural

Natural cat litter is such a logical decision. If you're unfamiliar with Swheat Scoop, you may not even realize that it is actually made out of whole grain wheat that is processed without added chemicals to make it into a litter product. Purr and cheer!

Traditional clay litter has to be mined from deep under the earth's surface, meaning  destruction of wildlife environments. What's more is that clay does not biodegrade. So after Meow uses it for a bathroom, it absorbs her liquids and holds them for an eternity in our landfills, releasing it as seepage over hundreds of years. Does this sound like it's good for our planet? Probably not!

Enter Swheat Scoop, a naturally-processed wheat cat litter. Do your ears perk up like mine did? It's just a no-brainer; this has to be better for our planet and our health  than digging up the ground and displacing our wildlife and their eco-systems. And there's more.

What I love, love, love about this natural litter is that is is biodegradable in my compost pile. I'll admit it; I'm one of those people. I eat organic food. I compost my non-protein food scraps; yes, even dry wheat. It's so easy to do that my 5-year-old could learn how, not that I have a 5-year-old of course. But you get the idea.

So what's all the excitement about composting? It means fewer plastic bags of garbage sitting in our over-crowded landfills. Those very landfills that are lined with materials that prevent the contents from seeping into the earth where they can biodegrade naturally when allowed to mingle with the micro-organisms in the ground, if only the garbage could reach the ground. Between our plastic bags and the lined landfills, there's no hope for biodegrading action. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now and get on with this review.

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
All Natural Swheat Scoop

You may be asking yourself what happens to the small brown solids in Meow's box when I send her litter off to the compost pile. There's not enough time to give you a composting lesson today, but I'll promise to make sure we cover the basics at #LitterChat, so watch for @Learnin2BGreen. That's one of our Event Barkers team members that will be sharing my tips on how to compost your non-protein, biodegradable household wastes, including Swheat Scoop. You're sure to learn a lot, and hopefully I'll hear from you later with questions. I'm happy to help :)

Just remember, that the solids are proteins and should not be placed in your household compost bin or pile. Proteins require special enzymes for proper biodegrading action. The rest of that story will have to wait for another day, like July 16 at #LitterChat!

An average kitty will not completely use up a 14 lb. bag of Swheat Scoop in a month. At #LitterChat we'll be giving away a 14 lb. bag to each and every winner, with our Grand Prize Winner taking home a whole year's worth of litter. Wow! We're also handing off other great kitty prizes like classy litterboxes, organizers for Meow's supplies, toys and treats. You can read up on the prizes here. 

Patches and I hope to see you on Tuesday, July 16 for an hour of terrific litterbox tips, composting info, training help for your dogs, and much more. Join us to learn and to win. 

Join Event Barkers partners All Things Dog Blog and DogTipper, along with sponsor Swheat Scoop for a Twitter Party to expand your horizons beyond clay cat litter. Don't forget to join in the PreTweet contest and the Rafflecopter drawing, as well as making sure you RSVP to win. 

Happy tails!

Event Barkers and Swheat Scoop are working to educate cat lovers on the benefits of natural wheat litter.