This is a guest article by Rachel Andre, Founder of Tippaws.
Tippaws is a small, independently owned cat-care brand based in Southwest London. They are on a mission to make every cat in the UK purr, through providing excellent nutrition for cats as well as making cat owner’s lives easier with high performing natural FSC®-certified Long-lasting Clumping Cat Litter.
The environmental impacts of cat litter
Cats are undoubtedly one of the most beloved pets in the UK. In fact, there are 11 million pet cats in the UK with an average of 1.6 cats per household. While cats are wonderful companions, their litter trays can create significant environmental problems. The amount of cat litter that ends up in landfill each year in the UK alone is staggering (774+ million litres), which is why it’s essential that we move towards a more environmentally friendly solution.
Clay-based cat litter is the most common and widely available. However, it is not biodegradable and clay mining, known as strip mining, is an extremely destructive process. Areas of forests and other wildlife habitats are cleared and destroyed. This also results in soil erosion, and therefore reduces the likelihood of this land being used for agriculture afterwards. Silica litter is another non-biodegradable option, derived from sand – a non-renewable resource. So, perhaps one of the best choices you can make for the planet, is to choose a litter made from natural plant-based fibres that can break down and return to the earth.
Natural FSC-certified cat litter
Tippaws also holds an FSC promotional licence which enables them to use the FSC trademarks to promote the finished and labelled FSC-certified products they source and to help spread the word about why natural litters made from sustainable resources are so important. Tippaws Founder, Rachel Andre, says: “Our cat litter is made from FSC-certified and other controlled material. FSC helps take care of forests and the people and wildlife that call them home. Customers can rest assured that by purchasing our FSC-certified litter they are supporting responsible management of the world’s forests. Sadly, this is not the case for traditional clay litter which is still the most common form of cat litter in the UK."
Because Tippaws Long-lasting Litter is clumping, it also allows customers to reduce their overall volume of cat litter waste. Rachel says: “Given the sheer volumes of cat litter being used in the UK, it’s increasingly important and urgent that cat owners have a less wasteful solution. Using an FSC certified, natural clumping litter means you are not only significantly reducing the amount of litter you are using per year, but you are also using litter that will ultimately biodegrade even if it is disposed of in your normal waste bin.”
Kindness to all cats
Tippaws are not just kind to the environment, they recognise that not all cats have access to high quality nutrition, love and care so they donate a proportion of their sales to small cat rescues in the UK. To further help cats in need, they also provide food and litter to cat rescues at reduced cost, as these are the two biggest outgoings for cat charities.
Find out more about Tippaws on their website