Leaving old school clay and chemicals in the dust, ökocat®, a next generation brand of plant-based cat litter based in Ferndale, Washington, revealed a packaging refresh and announced it will have expanded nationwide pet channel distribution in 2020.

Healthy Pet®, a longtime leader in the natural pet product industry, is being awarded the prestigious START (Safety Through Achieving Recognition Together) graduation final certification from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

FERNDALE, WA. (November 21, 2019) – ökocat®, an all-natural brand of cat litter made from reclaimed wood and paper, announced that four animal rescue organizations in Boston, Portland, San Diego and Philadelphia have received donations totaling over 4,000 pounds of its eco-friendly litter, just in time for the holidays.As part of the second annual ökocause4paws Litter Donation Program, ökocat asked its fans to vote for their favorite eco-friendly U.S. cities and submit shelter suggestions for a possible donation of litter. After two months of gathering feedback, ökocat has announced that Boston, Portland, San Francisco and Philadelphia received the highest number of votes from fans.  Based on shelters suggested and each organization’s specific needs, ökocat has selected the following shelters in each eco-friendly city to receive a donation of litter:• Gifford Cat Shelter in Boston, MA• The Oregon Humane Society in Portland, OR• Philly PAWS in Philadelphia, PA• The Rescue House in San Diego, CAIn addition to receiving the donation of eco-friendly litter, each future cat adopter at all four shelters will receive a coupon for a free box of litter to take home with their cat throughout 2020. “The Oregon Humane Society (OHS) is grateful to ökocat for this generous donation of litter, which will help us care for shelter cats and kittens as they await their forever homes,” said Sarah Yusavitz, Corporate Relations Officer at the Oregon Humane Society. “OHS adopts out over 6,000 cats and kittens each year, so programs like the ökocause4paws are instrumental in enabling us to continue our important, life-saving work.”ökocat litter delivers 7-day odor control and easy-clean clumping and no airborne dust. Being free of harmful chemicals, additives and synthetic scents, it’s not harmful to the environment, unlike strip-mined clay litter, which still accounts for the 2.4 million tons of cat litter that ends up in landfills each year.“Our fans are passionate about sustainability and cat adoption, and we truly appreciate their enthusiasm and participation in our annual ökocause4paws Litter Donation Program. Our goal is to help shelters provide cats with the best care possible, while also helping adopters learn about the health and environmental benefits of a natural litter,” said Leslie Ellis, Communications Manager at ökocat. “We’re thankful that since we launched the program in 2018, we’ve been able to donate more than 8,000 pounds of natural litter, and we’re looking forward to where the program takes us again in 2020!”For more information about the 2018 and 2019 ökocause4paws programs, please visit www.healthy-pet.com/pages/okocause4paws. ökocat can be found at stores across the United States and Canada. To purchase online or to find a location in your area, visit www.healthy-pet.com/okocat.

Vespa ökocat selfies, one-on-one meetings with famous cats, FREE ökocat postcards, totes and pink sunglasses, were all a big it at the recent CatCon™ festivities in Pasadena, CA. ökocat was a major sponsor of the Meet & Greet with famous Instagram cats, Juno & Klaus, where attendees had the chance to pet, snuggle, take photos and chat with their pet parent, Mick, about life with these two very special cats, while also learning about the benefits of using ökocat natural litter.  CatCon™ welcomed over 16,000 cat enthusiasts and famous cat lovers to their 5th annual, two-day convention at the Pasadena Convention Center in California. Nearly 200 cats were adopted and found their forever homes during the event. Portions of the ticket purchases are donated to cat rescues such as Milo's Sanctuary.  About CatCon:CatCon™, is the world’s original and biggest cat-centric pop culture event, attracting attendees from 45 states, 621 cities and 11 countries to celebrate the latest in groundbreaking products, ideas, and trends for cat people, and has helped over 700 cats find forever homes. Dubbed ‘like Comic Con for cat people,’ CatCon is the ultimate celebration where cat culture meets pop culture. CatCon is owned by Ticket Out Incorporated, along with sister companies Cat Art Show and DogCon.

The Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) recently unveiled it's Positive Impact Program designed to increase recognition for suppliers and brands who are continually measuring and improving their environmental impact. Healthy Pet submitted their extensive application for assessment, showing their sustainability practices throughout the organization and received a Tier 3 rating for Top Category Performance. This entitles Healthy Pet for inclusion in promotional emails, social media posts, trade show materials and more to help amplify their sustainability story.  "Sustainable business practices aren’t just good for individual companies. Adopting a 3rd party assessment creates a shared language for what sustainable business practices are, and what terms like natural, sustainable, green, and eco-friendly really mean. By requiring measurement and annual improvement instead of a minimum “score”, the Positive Impact Program incentivizes continuous improvement no matter where the starting line for each company may be." (excerpt for www.petsustainability.org) The program also requires continuous measurement of improvements and updating eligibility each year. Healthy Pet's next assessment will be in July of 2020.  Healthy Pet is proud to be a major sponsor of PSC to help support sustainability in the pet industry.