I'll have to check out and see what the pellet thing are thank for this idea.
The pellets are primarily manufactured for the purpose of burning in wood stoves, so hopefully you can find them in Houston. They are generically called "wood pellet fuel" My local feed store got me using them for brooding my annual meat chickens. I was shocked at how much better they worked than pine shavings.
Because they are meant to be burned inside where humans breath, they don't have glues or toxins in them. They are basically 100% highly compacted wood, usually pine or oak. When they get wet, they just crumble into a dry looking powder.