Eco-Friendly Cat Litter: Top 12 Brands with Comparison Chart – 2024
Eco-friendly cat litter helps the environment or, at least, causes no harm to it in any of the stages of its life cycle ( raw material production/procurement > transportation > manufacturing > packaging > distribution > disposal).
Finding one that fits the bill perfectly is difficult because, for example, litters that are otherwise eco-friendly don’t invariably come in biodegradable packing.
We have taken into account all of the major eco-friendly factors as well as the characteristics most people seem to want in a ‘good’ cat litter. The comparison chart is expected to help you decide what might serve you the best.
Our write-up is based almost exclusively on user reviews – we’ve used question marks in the chart for properties that had minimal or no information and/or too many contradictory reviews.
The brands are arranged in alphabetical order. Where we have noticed a significant contribution to the environment on the manufacturer’s part, the brand names are placed in green cells (light green ranks higher than dark green).
Please click the brand names in the chart to get to their respective review section.
NOTE:
Even if a litter is mentioned as flushable, please consider not flushing used litter if you live near the coast. Cat poop may contain a parasite that can kill marine life. For this reason, flushing is banned in certain areas (like California). Read our post on flushable cat litter for more details.
Some of the reviews contain affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
We never recommend products just because we could get paid to do so.
Best Eco-Friendly Cat Litter Comparison Chart
Key:
| Excellent | Good | Acceptable | Bad/Undesirable |
R = Recyclable, B = Biodegradable, CN = Carbon Neutral Shipping
= Suitable for Declawed Cats
| Arclay Catsens | Calcium Bentonite | Clumping: Good | Dust: Minimal | Tracking: Minimal | Odor Control: Good | Flushable | Packaging: ? |
| Almo Nature Soft Texture | Plant Based | Clumping: Excellent | Dust: ? | Tracking: Yes | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable | Packaging: R |
| Almo Nature Grainy | Plant Based | Clumping: Good | Dust: Minimal | Tracking: Low | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable: No | Packaging: R+B |
| Boxie Eco™ Farm to Box | Red Wheat + Perennial Rye | Clumping: Good | Dust: Minimal | Tracking: Low | Odor Control: Good | Flushable: No | Packaging: R |
| Casual Home | Pine Pellets | Clumping: No | Dust: No | Tracking: No | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable | Packaging: ? |
| Catit | Wood | Clumping: Good | Dust: Yes | Tracking: Yes | Odor Control: Good | Flushable | Packaging:: R+B |
| Catfidence | Organic Bamboo | Clumping: “bunching” | Dust: No | Tracking: No | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable | Packaging: ? |
| Feline Pine Original | Pine Shavings | Clumping: No | Dust: No | Tracking: Minimal | Odor Control: Good | Flushable: No | Packaging: ? |
| Naturally Fresh | Walnut Shells | Clumping: Excellent | Dust: No | Tracking: No | Odor Control: Good | Flushable | Packaging: R |
| ökocat | Reclaimed Wood | Clumping: Good | Dust: No | Tracking: Minimal | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable | Packaging: |
| Oley Hemp | Hemp | Clumping: Excellent | Dust: No | Tracking: Yes | Odor Control: Excellent | Flushable | Packaging: ? |
| Only Natural Pet | Grass Seed | Clumping: Good | Dust: No | Tracking: No | Odor Control: Good | Flushable | Packaging: CN |
| Smart Cat | Grass / Corn+Wheat | Clumping: Excellent | Dust: No | Tracking: Yes | Odor Control: Good | Flushable: ? | Packaging:? |
1. Arclay Catsens Organic Clumping Litter
This is a Canadian company, and the website doesn’t look entirely professional (which is not a bad thing, as far as we are concerned). The main ingredient is not categorically stated, either. Upon repeated queries and a bit of investigation, we realized that the ingredient is in all probability calcium bentonite clay.
We are totally against using sodium bentonite clay litter because everything about its manufacture is destructive and wasteful. And there is simply too much anecdotal evidence that bentonite clay litter can kill kittens and even grown cats.
Food-grade calcium bentonite is benign, however, and while absorbent and likely to cause a bit of constipation in some individuals, we have no reason to not include it in our list.
This is especially because Catsens has a Letis Certification for being organic, and has very good clumping and odor control properties.
2. Almo Nature Unscented Clumping Plant-Based Cat Litter
Almo Nature is an activist brand owned by Fondazione Capellino – “a non-profit commercial entity” with project that “protect and conserve biodiversity made possible by the Reintegration Economy model”. The projects are run with the profits that come from selling its pet products including this cat litter.
Companion for Life is one such project that might resonate with all or most of our readers:
The project aims to achieve new EU rules and regulations allowing dogs and cats to be considered legal family members while respecting their specific nature.
It further supports needy dogs and cats by facilitating adoptions and responding to routine and emergency situations.
There are two varieties of Almo Nature cat litter – soft texture suitable only for short hair cats, and natural grain for all cats. There is at least one significant difference between the two that could influence your purchase decision.
2.1. Almo Nature Soft Texture
This would be the perfect litter but for its fine grains. From what we’ve gathered, it tracks almost invisibly – precisely because it is so fine. Otherwise, it clumps really well, has superior odor control, is flushable and completely biodegradable. Comes in a polythene pack (yes, we wish it were paper) which is recyclable.
2.2. Almo Nature Natural Grain
This litter is for all cats irrespective of the type of fur they may have. It comes in an uncoated paper packet which can be recycled/reused and is completely biodegradable.
There’s nothing negative about this litter and because the grains are not as fine, it doesn’t track any more than any other low-tracking litter.
And no, it is not flushable, but that’s not exactly a negative.
3. Boxie Eco™ Farm to Box Ultra Sustainable Plant-based Clumping Cat Litter
Boxiecat offers several types of cat litter. For their clay litter range, all we could get out of the official website was that the litter contains only “premium clay”. We’re hoping that it is calcium bentonite and not sodium bentonite. At this point, we’re too tired to request clarification from yet another website that doesn’t bother with transparency.
They also sell “plant-based” cat litter (other than Boxie Eco™ Farm to Box). We don’t know what plants they put in there because they’re consistent with their lack of transparency.
Boxie Eco™ Farm to Box
This is the only product from Boxiecat we are including in our list. The official website offers clear explanation regarding sustainability, ingredients and packaging about this one.
Claims:
- Made with soft red wheat and perennial rye locally sourced from farmers who practise a no-till method of sustainable cultivation.
- And since it is 99.9% dust-free, your lungs stay safe.
- Their trademarked “Nature Clump™” traps odor and clumps the used litter super-fast.
- Comes in recyclable packaging.
- There’s also a refund/replacement guarantee in case you are not satisfied but be sure to read the terms and conditions. We thought of quoting the most important part here:
Replacement or refund guarantee is limited to one bag or one product (any size) as this program is intended for trial purchases and product evaluation only.
User Reviews:
There aren’t as many user reviews as you’d expect an award-winning cat litter to have. Not for this particular variety, anyway. And then, the reviews are extremely contradictory.
What we understood is that if you maintain a four-inch level of litter in the box at all times,
- there will be no significant odor to speak of,
- there’s a bit of tracking but not more than what we see in any other brand,
- same for dust – nothing excessive and,
- it does clump pretty well.
That’s all we have for this one.
In case you’re wondering why we’d mention this one at all, here’s a screenshot of the achievement of the brand as a whole (and not specifically with respect to the Eco variant); we could hardly ignore that:
4. Casual Home Pine Pellet Non-Clumping Litter
Here is the official video from Casual Home comparing their litter with other, similar litter: It is an all-round good litter and user reviews suggest that it lasts longer than most other litters.
The company makes cat furniture, and the sawdust for the litter is likely the byproduct. They claim that a majority of their products are manufactured sustainably:
Casual Home Sustainable Manufacturing Practices Statement
5. Catit Go Natural Wood Clumping Cat Litter
Catit is manufactured by a Canadian company founded in 1999. Their cat litter is made from wood with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification.
Image cropped from original at http://images.salsify.com/image/upload/s–eiEoe7Yd–/w_1000,h_1000,c_pad,dn_72/oy4c4t9xdjhz82ou8nex.jpg
FSC promotes responsible forestry. The importance of responsible forestry cannot be stressed enough. This is how we get the necessary lumber while keeping the natural biodiversity intact and promoting jobs for the local community. There is zero exploitation either of nature or of the indigenous population. Please watch this video to understand the concept better:
The production of Catit cat litter is well-represented by the following image:
Image cropped from original at https://catit.us/cdn/shop/files/rwftew7m5qfmwngls8un.jpg?v=1688749528&width=990
Catit is good at odor control, clumping and absorbency although there is the issue of dust and tracking. We wouldn’t recommend Catit for long-haired cats unless you don’t mind wiping them down every time they come out of the litter box.
Problem: while it does clump to perfection, sometimes, the used litter sticks to the bottom of the tray. It is possible that the workaround is to place a sheet of newspaper or plastic at the bottom of the tray. If you otherwise like this litter, you’ll probably find a way to make it work for you.
6.Catfidence™ 100% Organic Bamboo Cat Litter
Source: https://poopbags.com/catfidence-100-organic-bamboo-cat-litter-21-lb-bulk-box/
The parent company website is poopbags.com and they make biodegradable poop bags in case you’re interested! They even plant one tree for every bag you purchase.
Catfidence is USDA certified, and made from sustainably cultivated bamboo. Bamboo regrows on its own from the base after the matured portion has been cut off, so a sustainable cultivation takes little effort.
Certified organic would normally imply that the packaging is also eco-friendly, but we have sent them a query, anyway. Hopefully, they will assure us that the bag is made from the same recycled materials as their poop bags are.
It is claimed that because of its relative high absorbency, one 7lb bag of Catfidence equals 40 lb of traditional clay litter and lasts one month. That sounds good to us.
Usage Instructions to Maintain Absorbency and Odor Control
- Pour at least 5lb of litter into the tray.
- Scoop out the wet, bunched up parts.
- Stir the remaining litter so that any part of it still wet gets mixed with the dry portion.
Watch the video to see understand this better:
7. Feline Pine Original Non-Clumping Formula
The major complaint about this one is that it gets dusty. From what we have understood, there might be a bit of confusion here.
Feline Pine Original formula does turn to dust as it gets wet (after cats have done their business), but you’re not supposed to scoop the dust out. What you should be doing is shaking the box a little to let the dust settle down.
Replace the litter when about 90 percent of it has turned to dust.
Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be anything objectionable about this natural cat litter.
About sustainability, Feline Pine uses kiln dried pine wood shavings – the raw material is sourced entirely from the lumber industry and not by cutting down trees particularly for litter production.
Feline Pine Sustainable Manufacturing Statement (https://www.felinepine.com/About.aspx)
8. Naturally Fresh
Formerly marketed as Blue Buffalo, Naturally Fresh is still made from walnut shells. This litter has a huge fan following because it is both useful and completely eco-friendly.
Unlike strip mining for clay litter, the company grows its own walnut trees and use 100% of the walnut shells for producing litter. The trees ‘absorb at least 3,744 lbs. of CO2 annually per acre, releasing earth-sustaining oxygen in exchange’.
About 1.8 million bags of walnut shell litter is produced every year which is equivalent to ‘taking 15,591 passenger vehicles off the road , driving 178,459,709 fewer miles, and burning 8,193,024 fewer gallons of gas each year’. [Read more on their official website.]
This video from their official website is totally worth a watch:
It can be flushed and is septic safe. It is completely biodegradable, clumps really well, and controls odor effectively.
Additionally, the company claims that one bag of Naturally Fresh clumping litter equals three bags of the leading clay clumping litter in efficacy and economy.
However, the multi cat version may be dusty. And we seem to remember at least one report some years back of a minor brown bug infestation – not specifically in Naturally Fresh but in walnut litter in general.
9. ökocat Natural Wood Cat Litter – 100% reclaimed wood
öko is German for ‘eco’ – implying that ökocat is eco-friendly. It should be, since it is made from 100% reclaimed wood. A lot of people swear by this brand’s odor control (that lasts for up to 7 days) properties. It is flushable, anti-bacterial, and can absorb a whopping 500% its own weight.
It has minimal dust but does track.
While on the subject of dust, if you are looking specifically for a dust free flushable cat litter, there is a Dust Free formula (which still tracks) made from paper. However, it is not as good as the clumping varieties. Only in odor control do all the different types of ökocat litter perform equally and admirably.
ökocat is not really a new brand. It has been a leading natural litter brand in Europe since the ’90s under the label ‘Cat’s Best’. It is now manufactured in the US as well.
Apart from reclaimed wood, ökocat also uses paper which is made by processing the same reclaimed wood.
The company does not use recycled paper on purpose since newspaper and other printed paper would invariably contain ink and dyes. They aim to make a completely safe and natural litter for cats and if you can get over the tracking issues, this could be The Flushable Litter you’ve been looking for.
Warning Against Flushing Cat Litter?
Do not be alarmed by the PROP 65 warning on the packaging. California State laws are pretty stringent (and we totally support that). There are a lot of substances that we take for granted could cause harm to human beings. Wood dust is among them. Even though ökocat is practically dust free, it isn’t (and cannot possibly be) 100% so – and 99.99%, in our opinion, is just a fancy number.
10. Oley Hemp OH! Kitty Litter
This one is among our favorites. Hemp is a wonderful crop and if you are into environment-friendly things, you should totally read more about how hemp is beneficial for the planet.
Oh! Kitty Litter is made in Oley, PA, from USDA certified, organic hemp fiber. It is exceptionally light and soft. A four-pound bag of Oley Hemp litter can be compared with more than 20 lb or ‘traditional’ cat litter. We suspect the manufacturers are referring to clay litter which weighs the most, but still, you can certainly expect value for your money.
The website provides an image (with QR code to verify authenticity) of the test results for their cat litter from Kaycha Labs.
The official website has other products made from hemp for both humans and animals and all of them seem to have pretty good customer reviews.
Reviews
Customer reviews suggest that the litter is
- excellent at controlling odor,
- tracks quite a bit because it is very lightweight,
- clumps very well,
- and in spite of mixed reviews, we do believe it is not dusty.
It does, apparently, have a (clean) horse barn like odor but that goes away after a day. This, of course, is a matter of personal preference – you either like it or you don’t.
Additional advantage
It is a very soft litter and perfect for aged or declawed cats.
11. Only Natural Pet Non–GMO Grass Seed Litter
This has been a favorite of ours since a very long time.
Only Natural Pet is certified B Corporation with an overall impact score of 86.1 per cent. All shipping is carbon neutral in partnership with Carbonfund.Org.
- The litter is non-GMO certified and made of grass seeds.
- It clumps well and has good odor control.
- The used litter is flushable where permitted.
- There’s virtually no dust and neither any tracking to any significant degree.
We were impressed by the video and strongly insist you watch it:
12. Smart Cat Eco-Friendly Cat Litter
This brand is non-GMO verified and, therefore, qualifies as eco-friendly. However, of the three types of litter they sell, the clumping variety displays absolutely no information regarding its components. And frankly, we didn’t bother asking – or listing it here (obviously).
12.1. Smart Cat All Natural Grass Litter
This one is lightweight – about half the weight of traditional clay litter. This means, if it suits your cats, the fact that it may cost a little extra may not matter.
However, because this is a lightweight litter, it tracks a lot.
The good part is that it is not dusty.
Other than that, there seems to be no complaint (in general). It clumps really well, has acceptable odor control properties, has a pleasant, natural smell and is soft on paws.
12.2. SmartCat All Natural Clumping Corn + Wheat Cat Litter
This variant is pretty much the same as the earlier one but by all accounts, tracks a bit too much.
Our Recommendation
If you wish to give this a try and find that only the tracking is a problem, maybe use a litter mat or mix it with some other litter (like Only Natural Pet Grass Seed Litter).
Final Words
Well, that’s about it. We tried our best – please leave a comment to let us know if we were on point.
Also, if you’re into everything organic, here’s a list of organic cat litter – there are precious few that bear the official organic certification.
And for the not-so-picky but likes everything natural, feel free to read our article on natural cat litter brands.
