Plastics and mindless landfill - equestrian products

[Kaylum]

Buying pre-loved tack, rugs and clothes all helps. Fast fashion is crazy. Churning out more and more stuff at cheap prices is irresponsible but so many businesses do it and people buy. The latest colour and 24 saddlepads later. Supply and demand all coming over from China or India.

BETA needs to seriously look at their retailers and encourage eco friendly ways of working and products.

As a charity we are currently running a scheme for recycling old rugs so they do not end up in landfill but can be reused and we sell preloved good quality equestrian donated goods. It's a win win situation.

 

[foxy1]

Aviform sell their supplements in a bio degradable refill bag

 

[little_critter]

Buying pre-loved tack, rugs and clothes all helps. Fast fashion is crazy. Churning out more and more stuff at cheap prices is irresponsible but so many businesses do it and people buy. The latest colour and 24 saddlepads later. Supply and demand all coming over from China or India.

BETA needs to seriously look at their retailers and encourage eco friendly ways of working and products.

As a charity we are currently running a scheme for recycling old rugs so they do not end up in landfill but can be reused and we sell preloved good quality equestrian donated goods. It's a win win situation.

My new plan ref yard coats is to scour e-bay for quality walking jackets that have probably been on 1 walking holiday then never used again. My yard coats look manky after a few trips to the yard, so as long as the coat is waterproof and fits I don’t care what it looks like.
I do get frustrated by the number of supplement tubs that end up getting thrown out. And why do refills have to be in plastic bags?....it’s still plastic!
I guess chaff and bedding (and anything that needs to be vacuum packed) is going to be very difficult to pack in anything but plastic.

 

[Kaylum]

My new plan ref yard coats is to scour e-bay for quality walking jackets that have probably been on 1 walking holiday then never used again. My yard coats look manky after a few trips to the yard, so as long as the coat is waterproof and fits I don’t care what it looks like.
I do get frustrated by the number of supplement tubs that end up getting thrown out. And why do refills have to be in plastic bags?....it’s still plastic!
I guess chaff and bedding (and anything that needs to be vacuum packed) is going to be very difficult to pack in anything but plastic.

I sell lots of donated walking and ski jackets as yard jackets. People go through so many in the bad weather. Keep one at the yard, one in the car, one at home. Same with jods, they get wet and dirty. Clothes I sell are always washed first.

 

[milliepops]

Buying pre-loved tack, rugs and clothes all helps. Fast fashion is crazy. Churning out more and more stuff at cheap prices is irresponsible but so many businesses do it and people buy. The latest colour and 24 saddlepads later. Supply and demand all coming over from China or India.

BETA needs to seriously look at their retailers and encourage eco friendly ways of working and products.

As a charity we are currently running a scheme for recycling old rugs so they do not end up in landfill but can be reused and we sell preloved good quality equestrian donated goods. It's a win win situation.

I love a bargain so buy second hand stuff often.
The amount of rugs that get thrown out pains me but I think the rug manufacturers don't exactly help with all the pretty prints and designs that make people want new ones. It's a clever business model.
My boring colour rambos are ancient and will probably outlive all the horses that wear them ?

I do love a pretty saddle pad tho... they don't get the wear that rugs do plus the second hand market is strong for certain brands so I can square that with myself ?

 

[palo1]

I know it looks a bit eccentric but I have found that really old tweed overcoats make fab yard coats; they can be hosed down to clean if the weave is tight enough and are great for layering. Easily acquired on ebay/charity shops too though you have to know what to look for! Maybe not everyone's choice aesthetically though...!!

Waxed cotton coats are pretty inexpensive and biodegradeable as well as patchable and re-waxable too. For winter riding I am having a tweed coat made (to a parka sort of style) - it will be expensive now but I hope that it means I don't need to buy a winter riding coat (sort of mid thigh, rear riding vent, high collar thing) for several years and that this coat can also be mended, zip replaced etc. Even a reasonably cheap, warm, waterproof winter coat is about £100 I reckon and I have found cheaper ones to either rip, zip knackers quickly or they become uncleanable/loss of waterproofing. I am sick of buying winter coats and them not lasting so am returning to a very traditional option and hope that lasts many years. Softshell and all things polyester are dire environmentally and the fabric itself is often too fragile to take much work.

Second hand tack of good quality can be so lovely though.

 

[Batgirl]

There are baling twine and wrap recycling schemes, it works out too expensive to do for one small yard but they have various collection point farms. So you can use a hippo bag and collect them and take them to a central point of you have one near.

 

[Muddywellies]

Lost my mind this morning at the saddlery at some of the truly dim witted products available that are both completely unnecessary and contribute to mindless landfill. Finding products that are not made of plastic or wrapped in unnecessary plastic is hard as well.

I kid you not, there was a plastic container of 100 peppermint flavoured wipes that were supposedly to improve bitting acceptance for your horse. So you wipe the bit with one of these and chuck it in the bin?!!! If you really think that peppermint is going to solve your bitting issues, pop to the grocery store and get a little bottle of peppermint essence. You can still get it in glass bottles as well.

Plastic brushes, plastic hoof picks, plastic feed bins. My favourite liniment now comes in a plastic bottle not glass one anymore.

Rant over.........

Entirely agree. The ultimate is bananas wrapped in plastic. Infuriates me.
Horse wise, what many people totally overlook is rubber riding arenas. Tonnes and tonnes of the stuff dumped on the land. I've mentioned this numerous times on here when people ask about arena surfaces and people seem to think it's absolutely fine ?

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I avoid using feeds in plastic bags as it infuriates me. Just switched to a new bedding (miscathus) for the field shelter as its in recycled plastic and can be recycled again.
Most of my tack/rugs are second hand and any old knackered rugs are cut up for patches and divested of any buckles for future use. My Mum is actually going to make my Great Dane a dog coat from the canvas of one of the old rugs..!!!

 

[windand rain]

Oh and dont tel me about people ripping up lawns for artificial grass, hanging plastic shower curtains and putting plastic flowers in their gardens not only does it look extremely stupid it makes gardens sterile and a bad place for wildlife. Horse plastic goes in my recylcing bin but buy Allen and page feeds in paper sacks hay in small bales the twine is often used for other purposes and dont fed many supplements so cn use any packaging for storage in the shed, greenhouse or tack room. Any not used are recycled in my home bin.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I bought a vit and min own brand from local supplier and emailed them that I was disappointed to be buying a plastic tub every month as I now had loads of these kicking about.
These now come in a paper bag which is great but the inside is lined with plastic. At least 2 bags lasts a winter and I decant a bag into 3 of those tubs.

 

[ig2312]

There's a company called Coronet Feeds who sell a brand of fully recyclable supplements that you don't have to buy a tub from in the first place. Their postal packing is fully recyclable too.

 

[Fransurrey]

Great post. Plastic gets on my chesticles, too. I buy in bulk whenever possible (linseed, brewer's yeast, treats), just because I know that they come in paper sacks (except linseed, which is now in plastic, grrrr). My wheelbarrow is 21 years old (galvanised steel) and has seen numerous tyre changes and new bolts. I do have a plastic step up, but it was rescued from a skip.

I'm another who has switched to buying used where possible. I got my new jacket on FB marketplace for £50. An as new Barbour. I desperately tried to buy used hiking boots, but had to give up as I never found any in my size and my others had started to rub my heels due to holes. Even my chickens are secondhand, lol!

I didn't realise some farmers would take haylage bags/wraps as part of their collections, so will investigate that, as I hate throwing the plastic away.

As for plastic lawns -urgh. I know someone who did it and URGH!!

 

[Slightlyconfused]

There's a Facebook group called zero waste equestrians. We try to recycle as much as possible at our yard, but as we have all said, our industry is terrible for the environment at the moment! Yesterday I picked up a weigh tape that not only has a plastic tag through it to hold it together, but then was sealed in a plastic bag ?.
The eqwax products seem pretty good. A couple of my friends use them, and when my current stash of products runs out I will be using eqwax.

Do you have a link for the group a si can't find it.


We reuse supplement tubs for other things or other supplements and stick labels on them.

Rug bags are reused as storage bags at the yard for home (fit pillows in or a quilt an dpullows nicely, or winter / summer clothes)

Everything I get I try and see if there is a refill option.

 

[TGM]

Do you have a link for the group a si can't find it.

See if this works:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/379435662927383

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Buying pre-loved tack, rugs and clothes all helps. Fast fashion is crazy. Churning out more and more stuff at cheap prices is irresponsible but so many businesses do it and people buy. The latest colour and 24 saddlepads later. Supply and demand all coming over from China or India.

BETA needs to seriously look at their retailers and encourage eco friendly ways of working and products.

As a charity we are currently running a scheme for recycling old rugs so they do not end up in landfill but can be reused and we sell preloved good quality equestrian donated goods. It's a win win situation.

Can you pm me your charity? I have a few rugs I need to get rid of and can't sell as poelke are asking stupid money for them. Would rather them go to a charity than for pennies

 

[Slightlyconfused]

See if this works:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/379435662927383

Thank you have requested to join.

 

[Sossigpoker]

What happens to all the bailing twine? That really upsets me !

 

[Kat]

If anyone wants ethical waterproof coats have a look at Paramo by Nikwax. They are life time guaranteed and can be repaired by sending them back if they get torn. If you decide you want to upgrade or your old one no longer fits they have a part exchange scheme, so you send your old one back and get £50 off your new one. The old one is then either repaired and renovated and sold on, used with others to make a recycled garment or if not usable just recycled.

They do base layers and stuff too.

Lots of ethical principles in terms of employment practices etc too.

I have several coats from them and they genuinely are waterproof and breathable. I wouldn't wear anything else to ride in the rain.

 

[Annagain]

While I totally agree on single and limited use plastic and definitely on unnecessary plastic packaging, I don't necessarily have a problem with plastic per-se if it is long lasting. Many other materials are as draining on the planet in terms of natural resources, take as much energy to produce and can also be heavier to transport, resulting in greater use of fossil fuels in the transport industry.

I take great pleasure in re-using plastic that is intended as single use as much as possible. Takeaway containers are perfect for portion sized freezing, lunch boxes, storing stud kits or even using as a small feed scoop. Christmas pudding bowls (my collection is growing by one every year) are brilliant as small mixing bowls, supplement buckets (I don't even buy supplements in buckets but I collect other people's!) are brilliant for general use around the yard - soaking fast fibre, storing first aid stuff, throwing in the car as a 'wash off' bucket when we go somewhere with the horses etc. Any plastic bags that make their way into the house (we do online shopping and they sometimes pack the meat or frozen stuff in one even if we ask not to have them) get used as bin liners rather than buying them etc. I feel like I'm sticking it to the man when I re-use single use plastic!

I absolutely have a problem with a society (in general and in the horsey world) with such a disposable attitude towards all sorts of things, where it's a case of buy it cheap and chuck it when you're done with it. Fast fashion is my big bug bear - both in terms of the waste of resources and the human exploitation involved in the manufacturing process to get such cheap products. Sadly buying expensive clothing isn't always a guarantee against that though.

I've noticed a big increase recently in local Facebook 're-use' groups where people offer things they don't want any more to help others and to save it going to landfill. While I love the idea, I'm getting increasingly annoyed by the number of people on there who just want something for nothing and are really brazen in asking for (often quite expensive) very specific things. One person was asking for a child's bike, but it had to be the exact one that she'd posted a picture of. Another person was asking for curtains, supposedly because she had moved into her first home and had 'nothing'. She turned down a very nice pair that were a very plain beige and totally inoffensive because they didn't have a blackout lining and she'd wake up too early! Someone else turned down a 'desperately needed' sofa because they didn't like the colour. I've also seen someone get really angry and try to involve the admin because she and another person asked to have something that was offered at pretty much the same time and the other person was told they could have it. She was furious and started quoting the group rules (which hadn't been broken as they state the offerer can choose who things go to unless they say first to comment will have them) because someone else got a free chest of drawers and she didn't. The level of entitlement it seems to have created is incredible.