'Green' farmer turns rejected egg boxes into animal bedding with help of disabled volunteers

A Co Down woman has turned her passion for sustainable farming into a social enterprise which helps give young people with disabilities work experience.

Clare Cannon takes rejected supermarket egg cartons and shreds them into eco-friendly bedding for farm animals and pets across Northern Ireland.

She told UTV: "We felt that there's materials here that could be used, repurposed and made into a product which also feeds into helping with employment."

Clare also wants to give young people with disabilities more opportunities.

To that end, she has taken on four volunteers of varying abilities and helped train them to make the bedding under supervision.

"We have young people that go to trade fairs, we have young people dealing with the public, we have young people gaining skills that we never thought would be possible because they would have speech impediments. They would really struggle so I do think it's vital," said Clare.

Behind the Stable Door's 'ecoshred bed' is safe for animals, as well as being distinctly colourful.

Clare said: "Environmental impact is community led, community based. People helping people and communities helping communities are key to solving the crisis's that we face here in Northern Ireland and across world."

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