Rentachook is Greener than Kermit’s Bum!

Oooops, can you say bum on the internet (twice)?

Our endeavour has been to make both the business and the products as sustainable as possible.  Resource minimisation, beneficial reuse of waste, and recycling are used to achieve this goal.  In addition to what you read below, Rentachook uses electricity sourced from 100% renewable generation.

What makes an Eco-Coop Eco Friendly?

Construction Materials

All coops are made as sustainably as possible, using Australian grown plantation pine and Australian plantation pine plywood.  Plantation pine is a crop like wheat (it just takes longer to mature) and is a sustainable resource, the Canadians and Scandinavians have been farming trees for hundreds of years.  Choosing Australian grown means that the timber is not shipped unnecessarily (from the other side of the globe, costing fuel and greenhouse gases).

The wheels come from old prams put out for rubbish collection (when we can get them).  When we run out, we use marine ply (which is cut from the remains of the old kitchen doors from my kitchen).  When that runs out it will have to be new marine ply (plantation grown of course!).

We are always keen for pram wheels. If you have an old pram or see one put out for collection we’re offering a $5 discount on a bag of organic stockfeed for every dead pram (or just its wheels) you bring (small wheels only please, we can’t use the all terrain big wheels on the coops).

Most other components (tin, wire etc) we don’t have much choice with them and they are pretty sustainable anyway given the tasks they have to perform.

Beneficial Reuse of Waste

The following items used/sold by Rentachook are beneficial reuse of waste:

• Feeders and waterers – 2 and 3 litre plastic milk and juice bottles;
• Bags for straw – Old stockfeed bags (until we run out);
• Bags for feed supplied with coops – Supermarket and department store shopping bags;
• Nesting boxes – 20 litre plastic soft drink concentrate drums and coop offcuts; and
• Wheels for coops – Old pram wheels (keep your eyes out, I’m having trouble keeping up)

Waste Minimisation in Coop Construction

Every design decision for the coops we make was done with minimising wastage in mind. Overall, in the construction of the coop, there is very little waste and almost nothing that is not recycled, as seen in the table:

Waste Generated	Size/Length/Number	Disposal/Recycling
Framing timber offcuts	Less than 20cm per coop	Shredded and composted
Ply offcuts	Approx 1 A3 sheet size per coop	Cut down for use in gates and addressing for flatpacks, or shredded and composted
Sawdust	Approx 50 grams per coop	Composted
Wire offcuts	Less than 100 grams per coop	Recycled (steel)
Packaging on hinges	Cardboard card with heat shrink plastic	Disposal
Bent screws, missed staples	Not many	Recycled (steel)
Metal strapping	Around timber etc delivered	Recycled (steel)
Sundry packaging	Plastic strapping and packaging	Disposal
Cardboard packaging	With bulk supplies	Reused in workshop or recycled

Recycling of Coops

We also encourage the recycling of the coops.  If, later on down the track, your circumstances change (eg you move into a flat, or your new partner is Alektrophobic (has a morbid fear of chooks)), please contact us and we may take back your coop from you and/or try to find a new home for your chooks. 

Obviously, if you’ve had your coop for ages we won’t give you much for it. We may not even be able to fully recycle it but we can always reuse the wheels and the tin. Keep ‘em going round!

Promotion of Organic

We also promote organic. We promote organic because, to gain certification:

• Organic farmers must nurture their paddocks in a sustainable way that naturally improves the soil;
• Organic farmers are required to maintain the local habitat and promote bush regeneration, control weeds etc; and
• Pesticides, herbicides, growth regulators, hormones, antibiotics and other nasties are totally prohibited.