At Bodens we are dedicated to ensuring that our environment is protected and the necessary work is carried out to ensure a greener planet for future generations. Alongside our wood recycling services, we produce animal bedding products for a wide range of animals. Small animals, farm animals, poultry and more. And while much of what we produce is done so in an environmentally-friendly way, we want to encourage our customers to practise recycling our animal bedding material to ensure the cycle continues.
Recycling Biodegradable Wood Shavings
Composting
You can compost wood shavings from vegetarian animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters at home. However, you should not compost waste from meat-eating animals. This is because their faeces may contain dangerous organisms that don’t break down during composting.
To compost these wood shavings you should first reduce them in size, particularly larger chunks as this can slow down the process. Then you can either place your wood shavings into a compost pile or compost bin, either in your garden or on your farmland. You may also wish to add fertiliser to your compost in order to speed-up the decomposition process.
Important to note – Wood shavings are a good source of carbon and their coarse texture prevents the compost pile from compacting. However, the natural decomposition process can be slow, taking up to two to four years.
Recycling
You can check with your local council to see if you can put wood shavings from vegetarian animals in your garden waste bin or at a recycling centre. It’s important to be careful when recycling products that have been used as animal bedding as they can be contaminated. As mentioned, each local district will provide their own guidance on the recycling of wood waste products and wood shavings.
According to Recycle Now other types of animal waste are rejected in the recycling process, particularly cat litter. However, we have provided a previous blog which discusses what to do when disposing of your used cat litter.
Mulching
You can use wood shavings as mulch in your garden. Sawdust mulch can help keep weeds out and break down over time. However, wood shavings from some woods, like cedar and walnut, can produce chemicals that kill plants. It’s important to read into the different types of plants you have in your garden, making sure they are not vulnerable to certain types of woods, and also look into which type of bedding you have. Where did the wood savings come from, do they contain chemicals?
As we said, we are keen to promote an environmentally friendly approach to providing animals with the products they need for a healthy and comfortable lifestyle. However, it is important for everyone to educate themselves on how to do this in the safest way possible. Hopefully this blog has helped to teach you more about the disposal of your animal bedding and wood shavings.
For more information on animal bedding practices and wood recycling keep up to date with our blog.
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