Environmentally Friendly Felisorb

At Ozhemp we care about the world you live in and are committed to producing environmentally friendly products.

There are many various types of Cat Litter in the market today. In our research we found some Cat Litters contain products that are detrimental to both the health of the cat as well as the pet owners. We also found that some types of cat litter are not environmentally friendly.

Cat Litter, Strip Mining and Environmental Issues

Sodium Bentonite, perhaps the most popular constituent of clump cat litter, is obtained through strip mining.

Sodium Bentonite mining makes business sense when it is found close to the surface. The top layer of the earth is removed to take out the clay. Even though there are laws that the land must be left as it was and filled and flattened, how scrupulously such laws can be followed is anyone’s guess.

The clay for the cat litter is dried under extreme heat and turned into a powder or flake. The strip mining process, the cost of transportation to the drying facility as well as the use of petroleum products to dry the material does present some questions regarding whether such cat litter should be produced at the expense of the ecology. In addition to this, the used clay cat litter is not biodegradable and is dumped into landfills.

Whether or not we should seek out alternative sources of power is a question reserved for elsewhere. As a layperson, however, I tend to believe that destroying the planet cannot logically be the only means to light up our glorious civilization. As far as cat litter is concerned, with all the organic alternatives available in the market, strip mining and industrial expenses incurred to manufacture cat litter appears to be somewhat redundant. Stripping the surface off the earth and laying it bare for cat litter that we do not need hardly makes sense.

Strip mining is as the name implies. Heavy equipment strips off the top layer of earth to get to the seam of clay, which is often quite thin. Strip mining is an incredibly destructive process that has wiped out thousands upon thousands of acres of land and removed millions of tons of earth; just so that cats can take a dump or I can use it to sop up barbecue runoff. The dust from cat litter is made up of tiny silicon particles. The “bentonite” aspect of the clay is made up of aluminium phyllosilicate (crystalline silica). These silicon particles are a known carcinogen. Pet owners often choose the clumping cat litter without realising where it comes from or where it will go. These are people that are already going that extra mile to care for a different species. Surely, if they were informed of the dangers of these cat litter varieties to their pets as well as to themselves and to the environment in general, they would opt for the organic alternatives instead. All we need is to educate people about cat litter and strip mining.

Cat Litter, Trees Felling and Environmental Issues

Deforestation, destroying natural habitats and contributing to climate change.[Clear cutting or deforestation is the most popular and economically profitable method of logging. However, clear cutting also imposes other externalities in the form of detrimental side effects such as loss of topsoil; the value of these costs is intensely debated by economic, environmental, and other interests. Aside from the purpose of harvesting wood, clear cutting is also used to create land for farming.

Clear cutting can have major negative impacts, both for humans and local flora and fauna. A study from the University of Oregon found that in certain zones, areas that were clear cut had nearly three times the amount of erosion due to slides. When the roads required by the clear cutting were factored in, the increase in slide activity appeared to be about 5 times greater compared to nearby forested areas. The roads built for clear cutting interrupt normal surface drainage because the roads are not as permeable as the normal ground cover. The roads also change subsurface water movement due to the redistribution of soil and rock. Clear cutting can also lead to an increased possibility of rapid runoff, loss of economic sustainability in that no timber products are available for a long time after clear cutting, loss of habitat for some wildlife species, unattractive visual effect, greater possibility of unwanted shrub and grasses becoming established, as well as a decrease in property values; diminished recreation, hunting, and fishing opportunities.

The worlds rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Between June 2000 and June 2008 more than 150 000 square kilometers of rain forest were cleared in the Brazilian amazon. While deforestation rates have slowed since 2004, forest loss is expects to continue for the foreseeable future] Farmers slash and burn large parcels of forest every year to create grazing and crop lands, but the forests nutrient-poor soil often renders the land ill-suited for agriculture, and within a year or two, the farmers move on.

Plantations and natural forest loss.

Probably the single most important factor a plantation has on the local environment is the site where the plantation is established. If natural forest is cleared for a planted forest then a reduction in biodiversity and loss of habitat will likely result. In some cases, their establishment may involve draining wetlands to replace mixed hardwoods that formerly predominated with pine species. The tree species used in a plantation is also an important factor. Where non-native varieties or species are grown, few of the native fauna are adapted to exploit these and further biodiversity loss occurs. However, even non-native tree species may serve as corridors for wildlife and act as a buffer for native forest, reducing edge effect.

Plantations are always young forests in ecological terms. Typically, trees grown in plantations are harvested after 10 to 60 years, rarely up to 120 years. This means that the forests produced by plantations do not contain the type of growth, soil or wildlife typical of old-growth natural forest ecosystems. Most conspicuous is the absence of decaying dead wood, a crucial component of natural forest ecosystems.

The replacement of natural forest with tree plantations has also caused social problems. In some countries, again, notably Indonesia, conversions of natural forest are made with little regard for rights of the local people. Plantations established purely for the production of fiber provide a much narrower range of services than the original natural forest for the local people. India has sought to limit this damage by limiting the amount of land owned by one entity and, as a result, smaller plantations are owned by local farmers who then sell the wood to larger companies. Some large environmental organizations are critical of these high-yield plantations and are running an anti-plantation campaign, notably the Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace.