There have been a number of research studies indicating that vermicomposting can significantly reduce levels of pathogens in waste materials, such as biosolids.

I’m a garden teacher at a small public school in Hawaii and have been composting with worms for the last 6 years.

Aloha,
Donna

In fact, I think about it often… One of my cats who doesn’t generally like to snuggle seems to find my lap irresistable when I’m sitting on the toilet. Wierd, I know, but who can figure out what goes on in the mind of a cat. Anyhow, I hate to shoo him away because it’s such a rare treat to get a cuddle from the Smoky Bear so I sometimes end up sitting on the john much longer than I actually would.

But… after reading about your rat in the toilet I must admit that I’m a tad bit freaked out by the prospect of sitting there any longer than absolutely necessary! I’m gonna have to try harder to get Smoky to cuddle in other situations!

P.S. – I’m making great strides at finding alternatives to plastic bags in my kitchen. It’s meant a few more dishes to wash, but it beats washing plastic bags hands down!

I also take a bath when I get home sometimes, after I’ve already taken a shower in the morning. The water waste gets to me.

Disposal – Unlike most litters that never dissolve or decompose, Swheat Scoop is the only litter on the market that’s certified flushable in sewer or septic systems by the SGS U.S. Testing Company.

Yeah, the wheat litter was how we got the rat in our toilet. Sitting in our toilet gorging on wheat litter. Even after we started flushing it down immediately (contrary to the instructions) we would still find evidence that s/he had been in there splashing around and having a good time. Poop pellets and fur. Yep. In our toilet. You read my post about it, right? I think s/he’s gone now. At least there haven’t been any signs for weeks. But I still knock on the toilet lid before I open it. And we still keep a little barbell on top to hold down the lid… just in case.

1) You can’t use clay litter because it won’t break down. You’ll just end up with shitty cement (literally!). We use SWheat scoop, because we like the smell, it clumps well, has very little dust, and because it comes in a paper bag. There are litters made from corn, corn husks, walnut shells, recycled paper and pine… although I wouldn’t recommend pine because of the volitile organic compounds – they’re not good for you or your cats to breathe. But any cat litter made from organic matter should compost well.

2) You have to compost it separately from your regular compst (if you have a regular compost that is) and use it only on ornamental plants, not on food crops. Actually, I’ve read that if you compost it for 18 months it’s safe to put on food crops, but I wouldn’t.

3) You have to mix in some grass clippings and/or leaves, and it needs more water than regular compost. I think that because the stuff is designed to absorb moisture, it requires a bit more water to get the composting reaction going. But once it does… HOLY MOLY… you can feel the heat rising off of that sucker!

4) We had a problem with mice in the compost bin at first, but this was because we weren’t keeping it moist enough so it wasn’t actually breaking down, and the little suckers were just sitting in there gorging on the wheat litter. Once we got it good and moist, and the composting started for real, the mice didn’t want any part of it!

5) We have had a small problem with odor, but I think this is because it wasn’t really composting for the first 7-8 months… it was all just sitting there. And when we finally figured out that it needed more moisture there was a HUGE pile of crap that had to decompose. So it stunk for the first few weeks after we got it good and moist, but that problem has gone away now that much of the huge backlog of poop has been composted.

6) As with any compost heap, it needs oxygen, so you have to turn it at least once a week. We generally clean the litter boxes every other day and just give it a quick turn when we add the new stuff, and then cover it with a fresh layer of grass clippings or leaves depending on the season (our neighbors give us their clippings and we collect big bags of leaves for use throughout the winter).

I realize this is a bit of work, and probably not for the squeamish or feint of heart, but it’s allowed us to completely eliminate our kitty litter waste problem, and we’re looking forward to some great fertilizer for our ornamental plants!