composting litter

Hey there,
We just bought a brand spankin new composter today! One of the reasons for buying it is that the local authorities have decided to cut back the number of garbage bags to 1 per week per household...which proves to be a challenge in a 4 person house.
Does anyone know if WBCL is compostable? Do you think its safe to put feces in the dirt?? It sure would help bring down the amount of waste in the house if it were. Any other thoughts?

Jess

There is no way I would compost litter and cat or dog waste. I remember years ago, I bought a Doggy Doolie- it was a contraption you buried underground, so the lid only remained above ground. You put *special* chemicals in it that was supposed to break down dog droppings. HA! The only thing it did was provide a place to put the dog droppings without doing much in the way or composting or breaking it down. Putting feces in dirt will do one thing, bring maggots.

You know... if someone invented something that could really make kitty litter recyclable/useable as a fertilizer they'd be millionaires....

If the litter is labeled as "flushable" then I would think that more than likely it would also be compostable, AFTER you flush the solid waste. The urine that's trapped in the rest of it would actually add to the composting action if I'm not mistaken. However, you would probably want a "hot" compost heap rather than the cold compost that most folks do (where you just toss all your organic stuff in a pile and let it sit to break down rather than paying attention to ratios, greens vs. browns, turning, etc., etc.)

Cindy

You want to check your local ordinances to find out if it's even legal to do this.

You can't put cat poop in the compost, as it has meat derivatives in it and this won't do any good! Plus, it will just sit in there and petrify!

I'm not sure about the urine either - human male urine is supposed to be good for composting, but I don't know about cats!

I would go with the fluchable if you aim to cut down your waste! Also, do you recycling facilities for cardboard, plastic, glass etc, as this keeps out waste down a lot!

Any urine would do I'd think as it's the ammonia you're after. The nitrogen cycle which is the result of nitrifying bacteria (not sure if this applies to composting) breaks the ammonia down with nitrites as a by-product, which is broken down into nitrates which is a form that plants can use. At least that's how it works in an aquarium !

Cindy

So it sounds like the composting of feces is a no go then. Oh well, can't blame me for trying! I'm sure I can -eventually- convert my parents to WBCL, but they're sticklers about their non flushable clay stuff (new stuff scares them). Either way this baby (the composter) is going up in the garden and we're going to give it a try
We've been recycling around here for many years, but the recycling program just isn't good enough for the local needs. I remember when I was going to university in another city, we could recycle just about everything! It was so great! Now they're even starting up composting programs in Toronto where people have special bins for compost. It's going to take awhile to get this far though.
Either way, I'm happy with our new earth-friendly purchases....although it does seem kind of silly to be buying big chunks of plastic to help save the earth

Yup cat litter sure is not compostable. On the farm that was one thing that went with the garbage bin. We had a large one like the stores have, but it only got done about once every three months. So I was a stickler for recycle (still am), composting, than burning in our burn pile. (i dont know if thats an opition for you) cause man bailing twine can add up fast when your feeding 80 head..