A place on the list

We are proud of this. worldsbestlitters.com has ranked Snow fourth in the world this year, and Terra eighth. We make only two litters, and both are on the list. The names ranked around ours are among the biggest in the world. Pidan, the Chinese brand that shaped the modern category. Ever Clean, the clay much of America has used for a generation. To find a homegrown Australian name among them is the part that means the most to us.

Snow

Snow was built around two things: the air in a room, and the way the litter itself is made.

Its dust rate is 0.09 percent. Almost nothing rises when you pour it, which is why it suits a home where someone is sensitive to what is in the air. Odour is met at the source rather than covered with scent. Snow is cassava and a measure of baking soda. It composts with garden waste, and where plumbing allows, a little can go down the drain.

The grain is fine and light. A little of it travels from the tray, the price of a litter this low in dust. It is a price we would pay again.

Terra

Terra was made for the machine in the corner of the room. The list marked it highly for the things that matter there: a clean pour, a firm clump, odour held down.

It is a blend of cassava and mineral, each granule weighted to pass cleanly through a rake and to be read by a sensor. The clump holds its shape through a full cycle. The mineral is the reason Terra is not flushable, and not compostable as Snow is. It is a different litter, for a different tray.

The work

We set out to make the cleanest version of each litter we knew how to make. A place on this list says we are close. It also shows us where we are not, which is the more useful thing.

There are better versions of Snow and Terra ahead of us, and litters we have not made yet. That is the work we are most interested in.

To everyone who has kept a tray filled with Snow or Terra, and mentioned us to a friend: thank you. You are the reason any of this is worth doing.