The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
Issue link: https://thehorse.epubxp.com/i/636486
47 February 2016 THE HORSE TheHorse.com light by way of added skylights and win- dows to save on barn utility costs. Another building consideration is using bamboo wood. Although more expensive than typical lumber, it's one of the world's fastest-growing plants, and growers don't need to rely on fertilizers or pesticides, says Crabbe. It's also very tough, making it a good material for barns and fenc- ing. Wood-plastic composite, a blend of recycled wood and plastic film, is another eco-friendly material that Crabbe recommends. This long-lasting woodlike product doesn't rot or decay or require painting or much upkeep. Avoid the waste or recycling hassle associated with baled shavings by build- ing a structure to house loose shavings. Crabbe's practice recently constructed a shavings barn to eliminate the need for bales. "I think it has probably saved a significant chunk of change for us and might even pay for the building over time," she says. Pick up used conveyor belting from a local gravel quarry, and use it as an inexpensive substitute for rubber stall mats in stalls, aisleways, wash racks, or grooming areas, suggests Alayne Blickle, director of Horses for Clean Water, an award-winning environmental education program for horse owners and author of TheHorse.com's Smart Horse Keeping blog. Similarly, keep an eye out for free used wooden pallets near industrial areas and warehouses—or even discarded on the side of the road or at the end of a neighbor's driveway. "Depending on the condition of the pallets you recover, you may be able to put them to use in all sorts of capacities around a horse property, from walls for compost bins, cute stall doors (for less "testy" beasts, such as dogs or ponies), and fencing," Blickle says. "Don't forget to use pallets for storing and stacking things off the ground, such as feed, hay, lime, grass seed, etc." And we can't discuss recycling with- out mentioning the ultimate recycling method: composting. One horse creates about 50 pounds of manure a day—that amounts to more than eight tons a year! "Add to that the eight to 10 gallons of urine a horse generates in a day and the wheelbarrow or more of bedding you use, and in no time at all you have a virtual manure mountain," says Blickle. "Instead of letting all that good stuff become a waste, composting reuses and recycles these natural materials into a beneficial 'black gold' that has many benefits when applied to lawns, gardens, and pastures." Compost can even be used as bedding. "We are now seeing equestrian facilities with high-quality composting systems taking that finished compost, mixing it 50/50 with clean shavings, and using it as a bedding product," Blickle adds. Take-Home Message Embrace a green barn environment and have fun coming up with ways to reuse and recycle everyday items. Get cre- ative! You might even save money in the long run on materials and utilities. h Precycling: Think Before You Buy Precycling might be the latest trendy word in the green community, but it also has an important place on the horse farm. Precycling simply means trying to prevent the need to recycle in the first place. Here are some simple examples: ■ Bring your own cloth bags with you to the feed store to keep from consuming additional plastic shopping bags. ■ Buy fewer disposable items or none (use cloth towels instead of paper ones) to prevent more things from ending up in a landfill. ■ Buy "long life" products (such as rechargeable batteries for clippers and long-lasting light bulbs for the barn). Concentrated products or items bought in bulk (such as equine shampoos, bug sprays, or nutritional supplements) will save money and prevent unnecessary packaging from ending up in a landfill. ■ Choose products with the least amount of packaging or none at all. Items packed in multiple containers might look nice, but are wasteful. ■ For horse camping trips or for your trailer's living quarters, choose lightweight plastic or metal dinnerware (cups, plates, silverware) versus disposable items. ■ Don't purchase Styrofoam. It contains polystyrene, a hazardous and difficult material to break down in our landfills. ■ Look for items packaged in cardboard, aluminum, steel, glass, or plastic containers numbered 1 or 2 on the bottom. These containers can be recycled more easily than others. Buying in bulk is not always practical, and buying disposable items is often a necessity. The key with precycling is to simply limit your consumption of things that will end up in the landfill or recycling bin. It might take a little more forethought, but an ounce of prevention is key!—Alayne Blickle Used conveyor belting is an inexpensive substitute for rubber mats in aisleways and grooming areas. Old water tanks make neat decorative fower beds around the barn. ALAYNE BLICKLE ALAYNE BLICKLE