This isn’t just any old hot water bottle – it’s much more eco-friendly than that.
As you know, a hot water bottle is simply a heat retaining bottle that you fill with hot water, and it helps with easing pain or just keeping you (or your bed!) warm.
But not every hot water bottle is as green (quite literally) as ours. This Chimney Sheep-green hot water bottle is made using natural, FSC-certified rubber, hand-drawn by farmers in Sri Lanka. The Fair Rubber Association then ensures that companies pay a Fair Trade premium for every kilogram of rubber bought. Not only is natural rubber, well, natural... but it's sustainable, renewable and even biodegradable, as it comes from a plant source!
It is recommended that you replace your hot water bottles every 2-3 years, depending on how often you use them and how roughly they’re handled. This itself is a good enough reason why you should choose to buy a hot water bottle made from natural rubber, which is eco-friendly, sustainable and renewable, instead of one that’s made using rubber that’s man-made and harmful to our planet.
What’s the difference between natural and synthetic rubber?
Natural rubber is extracted from the “rubber tree” or Hevea brasiliensis, as latex milk. It is harvested by using a hooked knife and removing a thin layer of bark (about 6.4mm, or a quarter of an inch) in a downward half spiral of the tree trunk, allowing the latex to run down into a collecting cup. It takes a lot of skill to be able to tap correctly, but if done right, the tapping panel can yield latex for up to five hours. The farmers tap during the cool hours of the night or very early morning because when the temperature rises too much the latex will coagulate and seal the cut.
The rubber trees don’t need to be cut down to harvest latex, so rubber tapping is not damaging to the forests. Trees need to grow to be at least 6 years old and 6 inches in diameter before they’re ready to be tapped. Once they’re ready, they’re tapped about once every two days but are often rested, especially after a period of particularly heavy tapping. By doing this a tree can be useful for up to 20 years!
Natural rubber is seen as one of the world’s most essential raw materials and makes up about 30% of the total rubber used annually. It’s hard to say which is “better” when it comes to natural vs synthetic rubber, as both have different properties and are therefore better used in different applications, and both are probably more important than you might first realise (they’re used in medical devices, toys, aircraft and car tyres and all sorts of other things). But it’s easy to say which is better in terms of the environmental impact: natural rubber wins pretty easily. It’s sustainable and biodegradable, rubber trees absorb more carbon dioxide than even the tropical rainforest (because of their leaf density), and it lives a green life – throughout the harvesting, manufacturing, recycling and use.
Synthetic rubber, however, is not at all good for the environment and impacts it a significant amount. All kinds of synthetic rubber are made using petrochemicals such as petroleum and natural gas, using a process called vulcanisation (meaning to harden using sulphur at a high temperature, usually between 140-160°C).
During this process, a hydrocarbon mixture derived from petrochemicals is combined with natural gases to create different types of synthetic rubber. The production of synthetic rubber, like all things produced from non-renewable sources, contributes to our increasing GHG emissions and landfill pollution. In this way, synthetic rubber is just as bad as plastic products.
What is fair trade rubber?
The Fair Rubber Association was founded on June 21, 2012, with the aim to apply the principles of fair trade to products made of natural rubber, so that the tappers and small farmers involved in obtaining the raw latex milk (raw rubber) get help improving their living and working conditions. They currently pay a fair trade premium of EUR 0.50 kg/DRC (Dry Rubber Content). The farmers, plantation workers and tappers decide for themselves how they want to use the Fair Trade premium; whether that be access to clean drinking water, grants for students, or anything else that will benefit the workers.
So, a Hot Water Bottle?
Yes!... well, no?
This isn’t just any old hot water bottle – it’s much more eco-friendly than that.
As you know, a hot water bottle is simply a heat retaining bottle that you fill with hot water, and it helps with easing pain or just keeping you (or your bed!) warm.
But not every hot water bottle is as green (quite literally) as ours. This Chimney Sheep-green hot water bottle is made using natural, FSC-certified rubber, hand-drawn by farmers in Sri Lanka. The Fair Rubber Association then ensures that companies pay a Fair Trade premium for every kilogram of rubber bought. Not only is natural rubber, well, natural... but it's sustainable, renewable and even biodegradable, as it comes from a plant source!
It is recommended that you replace your hot water bottles every 2-3 years, depending on how often you use them and how roughly they’re handled. This itself is a good enough reason why you should choose to buy a hot water bottle made from natural rubber, which is eco-friendly, sustainable and renewable, instead of one that’s made using rubber that’s man-made and harmful to our planet.
What’s the difference between natural and synthetic rubber?
Natural rubber is extracted from the “rubber tree” or Hevea brasiliensis, as latex milk. It is harvested by using a hooked knife and removing a thin layer of bark (about 6.4mm, or a quarter of an inch) in a downward half spiral of the tree trunk, allowing the latex to run down into a collecting cup. It takes a lot of skill to be able to tap correctly, but if done right, the tapping panel can yield latex for up to five hours. The farmers tap during the cool hours of the night or very early morning because when the temperature rises too much the latex will coagulate and seal the cut.
The rubber trees don’t need to be cut down to harvest latex, so rubber tapping is not damaging to the forests. Trees need to grow to be at least 6 years old and 6 inches in diameter before they’re ready to be tapped. Once they’re ready, they’re tapped about once every two days but are often rested, especially after a period of particularly heavy tapping. By doing this a tree can be useful for up to 20 years!
Natural rubber is seen as one of the world’s most essential raw materials and makes up about 30% of the total rubber used annually. It’s hard to say which is “better” when it comes to natural vs synthetic rubber, as both have different properties and are therefore better used in different applications, and both are probably more important than you might first realise (they’re used in medical devices, toys, aircraft and car tyres and all sorts of other things). But it’s easy to say which is better in terms of the environmental impact: natural rubber wins pretty easily. It’s sustainable and biodegradable, rubber trees absorb more carbon dioxide than even the tropical rainforest (because of their leaf density), and it lives a green life – throughout the harvesting, manufacturing, recycling and use.
Synthetic rubber, however, is not at all good for the environment and impacts it a significant amount. All kinds of synthetic rubber are made using petrochemicals such as petroleum and natural gas, using a process called vulcanisation (meaning to harden using sulphur at a high temperature, usually between 140-160°C).
During this process, a hydrocarbon mixture derived from petrochemicals is combined with natural gases to create different types of synthetic rubber. The production of synthetic rubber, like all things produced from non-renewable sources, contributes to our increasing GHG emissions and landfill pollution. In this way, synthetic rubber is just as bad as plastic products.
What is fair trade rubber?
The Fair Rubber Association was founded on June 21, 2012, with the aim to apply the principles of fair trade to products made of natural rubber, so that the tappers and small farmers involved in obtaining the raw latex milk (raw rubber) get help improving their living and working conditions. They currently pay a fair trade premium of EUR 0.50 kg/DRC (Dry Rubber Content). The farmers, plantation workers and tappers decide for themselves how they want to use the Fair Trade premium; whether that be access to clean drinking water, grants for students, or anything else that will benefit the workers.
Fair Zone Hot Water Bottle
4 reviews
Fairtrade
FSC certified
Sustainable
Each one of these hot water bottles is made from natural, sustainable, renewable and fair trade rubber, collected by hand by farmers and plantation workers in Sri Lanka.
Not only can you use your hot water bottle to keep warm during the winter months, but the heat from hot water bottles also helps to soothe aches and pains by stimulating blood flow.
£15.00
In Stock
Select Size: 0.8L
Colour: Green
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Shipping & Returns
Standard delivery
Free when you spend over £30 or £3 for orders under £30.
Delivered within 2-4 working days from the date of dispatch.
Smaller items will be delivered using Royal Mail 48. Larger items will be delivered by Fedex or ParcelForce.
Delivery Monday to Saturday (excluding bank holidays).
Expedited delivery
£6 for all orders.
A fully tracked service, delivered within 1-3 working days, from the date of dispatch.
Smaller items will be delivered using Royal Mail 24. Larger items delivered via FedEx or ParcelForce.
Delivery Monday to Saturday (excluding bank holidays).
We have a 60-day return policy, which means you have 60 days after receiving your item to return it.
To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same, re-sellable condition that you received it, unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. You’ll also need the receipt or proof of purchase.
The postage cost for the return will need to be covered by yourself (please keep the proof of postage until your return has been processed).
At the core of Chimney Sheep is our Community Interest Company, Buy Land Plant Trees (BLPT). For every purchase you make with us, 20% of the profit facilitates the planting of trees on agriculturally poor land in Cumbria.
We set up BLPT in 2019 as a ‘boots on the ground’ tree planting initiative. The company is run by us and the tree planting is done by us. We do it to help you and us to reduce our impact on the planet. The trees we plant reduce CO2 output as well as contribute to the reduction of flooding and the creation of habitats for wildlife.
BLPT isn’t a tick box exercise nor a distant and detached carbon offset company. In fact, this is as much part of our business as the products we sell and is an integral part of our ethos. We are big believers in the phrase ‘think globally, act locally’ and want to make a genuine difference
A Chimney Sheep® draught excluder is a brilliant tool for any property with an open chimney. But don’t just take our word for it...
Let customers speak for us
from 5050 reviews
Eco Friendly Weed Control
I bought this as I wanted a non-plastic weed suppressant to use under stones and bark and this is ideal as it can be bought by the metre rather than having to buy far more than I need (though it does make it more expensive per metre). It is easy to use and I'm really pleased that it is a natural material with no plastic. I'm wondering how long it will last before it needs replacing, but for now, I'm really pleased with my purchase.
I ordered two of the 10kg...in error! There's a massive amount of wool in each bag and, to my mind, it's quite clean. It's very thick and has a high amount of lanolin in it, a good sign.
I placed it around my runner beans and French climbing beans. The wool provides support when it's windy. Round the tomatoes, the courgettes and...the potatoes. They thrive on it.
Important: the will deters slugs etc, but my advice is that it's essential to keep the wool moist. Not sodden, as the wool is superb at preventing the soil drying out.
Well worth it.
Delivery box was a bit battered on arrival so feared for the pots, but the sheep's wool had kept them safe. Brilliant non plastic option to keep seedlings watered without wasting water and the wool works to keep slugs at bay.
Bought these as the fluffy inside lining of my slippers had worn down to the rubber! I hate waste and didn’t want to throw them away as they were in otherwise good condition, so I bought these and popped them in and now I have warm and comfy insides to my slippers again - Hurrah!! Slipper life extended and waste reduced. Very glad to have found this company 😊.
We have an open fire that is only used a few times a year but don't want to decommission it.
When not in use there is a noticeable draft that comes down the chimney this includes the smell from our neighbours log burner when the wind blows the wrong way.
Enter stage left the Chimney Sheep. I measured up the chimney aperture and placed my order. Despite Royal Mails best efforts it arrived well packed and in good order.
It's a neat product and having attached the handle shoved it up the chimney. Perfect fit. Can't be that easy surely? Yep.
There is a fob that attaches to the handle that dangles down from the chimney so that you are reminded that the Chimney Sheep is in situ before lighting a fire.
I can't comment on the draught excluding properties yet as the weather has been glorious since I got it, but I see no reason it won't be effective. I no longer have to listen to the pigeons serenading each other though.
My first purchase of three ply…I will buy more….this is good stuff….does the job….soft enough…AND made in uk from uk waste paper…this is important if you are thinking green….no point buying recycled paper which has been round the world and back. We have loads of waste paper to use in the uk and loads of uk bottoms to wipe 😂
Amazing felt, thick and really good quality. Worked amazing by for my art project. I love both the colour and the texture! Excellent delivery and costumer service.
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