Today, food and products are not just defined as “green,” environmentally sustainable, renewable or organic; they’re also judged by their “carbon footprint.” The smaller the carbon footprint, the more environmentally friendly something is.

Though we all think of our horses as creatures of nature and seek to ride in balance and harmony with our horses, the carbon footprint we leave behind is often pretty hefty. Common examples of heavy carbon footprints created by the horse industry are:
* How far our feed or hay travels to get to our feed stores, then to our farms
* HOW WE BED OUR STALLS!

Have you been wondering why bedding and wood shavings costs are going up? We’re entering an era of new alternative energy and new sustainable fuel commodities of which wood is in high demand.

Wood is used as a high BTU energy source, including wood pellets for household pellet stoves and wood chips for commercial and industrial boiler fuel. In many regions, this has created a shortage of wood available for use as animal bedding. There is good news on the horizon though. You have several options, with industry gearing up to provide new, sustainable alternatives.

Use of new stall bedding technology such as mats and liners reduce bedding requirements but still create a clean, healthy stall. Going this route involves an initial capital cost per stall, but reduces bedding requirements by about two-thirds. The wood pellets recommended for use with most of these new stall pads are soaked and slightly pre-expanded, but still leave dramatic additional absorbency. Wood pellets may go up in cost, but amounts required are greatly reduced. Many of these new stall systems are made from 100% recycled tires, making them environmentally friendly as well.

If you live in a region with timber and milling, check with local mills from whom you can purchase loose, bulk sawdust. Often it is not from kiln dried lumber, but if you buy green early in summer and leave it where the air or sun can hit it, it will dry out considerably.

Another readily available option in many regions is straw. Straw is highly absorbent and may involve some mucking re-education, including a new pitchfork with fewer tines, but very safe and efficient.

In some areas you may even be able to source shredded newsprint. If you have a white horse, you’re probably shaking your head NO. But if interested, talk to your local recycling coordinators and ask them if any companies locally shred newsprint.

Within the next few years new blends of pellet bedding will be entering the market. These sustainable grass crops have a much shorter growing requirement than wood from trees. These crops are being studied for use as heating fuel options to be used as both wood/grass blends and as straight grass fuel. In many cases these pelletized grass products will work beautifully as bedding substrates.

And when that bedding is soiled and on its way out the door, it will also compost extremely well.

Josh Nelson started Beaver River Associates in 1987 and it soon became the largest worm composting operation in New England. Beaver River consults to the organic waste and composting industry addressing the needs of small through large scale diversion challenges. Josh is also actively involved with “green” product development for the horse, dog and hobby farm enthusiast. He can be reached through www.wormkits.com or www.telescopepet.com

Have a question about composting or manure management for Josh? Check out our interactive FORUM at the ALL-NEW holistichorse.com