Happy Earth Day everyone!

Between doing outdoor chores, meeting with a barn builder, riding, and running I spent this earth day entirely outside; and I would never want it any other way. But earth day is not just about playing outside. It is a day that we can use to raise awareness about the importance of preserving the earth, and to think about ways we can help. Even equestrians can keep it green, and here are some tips to do it!

Recycling! 

Recycling is huge. In some more rural areas it may be difficult to recycle, but I urge you to look into it. I typically have more recycling each week than trash. Recyclable items can vary from place to place but hard plastics, paper, cardboard, cans, and glass can be recycled in most places. Items should be clean before recycled also. I once worked at a farm that recycled, and the bin was always full. The number of water bottles was insane! Which leads my to my next tip for keeping it green.

Take a re-usable water bottle to the barn!

I personally use a Yeti, and I am obsessed! It keeps my water cold all day long! I have heard that Swell bottles do the same, but I haven’t tried them. If you are looking for a cheaper option, any re-usable water bottle is great. They can be found pretty much anywhere too: grocery stores, sporting goods stores, and Amazon of course. Another great thing about re-usable water bottles is that they are often bigger than plastic water bottles, so you can have more water with you if you are outside for a long time; and when you drink it all, you just fill it back up. I find that it is cheaper than having to buy plastic water bottles all the time as well.

Conserve water at the barn!

Horses use a lot of water, but every little bit you can conserve helps. When bathing horses, turn the hose off while you soap them up, for example. Also, pay attention when filling water buckets, or troughs, so as to not allow them to overflow. When they overflow, that is water simply wasted.

Carpool!

We horse people love our big trucks and trailers. While they are necessary to take horses to horse shows, or the vet, they use a ton of fuel and I am sure pollute quite a bit. So, if you can, carpool. Ride to shows with barn-mates, if possible. Some people I know also have second, more fuel efficient, cars for when they do not need to haul horses. Obviously, that is not possible for everyone (myself included) but it is a great way to reduce our pollution – as well as cut down on the gas bill.

I hope you have all had a great earth day! Do you have any tips for keeping it green while living the equestrian life? I would love to know! Let’s keep this beautiful planet healthy for generations of equestrians to come!