Environmental Pledge

We spend half our life outdoors, so it makes sense to look after our environment...

But we're not interested in some marketing gimmick, so you won't find us chasing fads and ticking boxes.  Instead, we'll do as much as we can.  We'll research as best we can.  And if we think something makes a difference - we'll do it.  And we'll tell you.

The plan is to add to this page each month to update you on what we've been doing to help minimise our effect on the environment.

May 2020 - Pre Launch!

ONE TREE PLANTED

We have made a commitment to plant a tree for EVERY bike that we sell.  

WASTE MANAGEMENT - the 3+1 R's

Bike shops generate a lot of waste.  Bikes are intricate and complicated to shop safely, so by default that means they come with a lot of packaging.  Now, we wouldn't want you to accept a scratched frame or a dented wheel rim - so for now we're just gonna have to live with that.  But what we can do is think about the next step of the journey for all that wasted packaging. So, this is what we've decided to do:

REDUCE:  Firstly, we are trying - where possible - to keep the number of suppliers to a minimum. This means we can order more from less suppliers - with the aim of reducing both the carbon footprint of the deliveries.  We are basically having less boxes or air/empty space driving around in vans.

RE-USE:  When we do have waste, first port of call is try and re-use it.  If you order from us, you might find all sorts of strange shaped bits of plastic/foam/all manner of random odds and sods of packing crap!  That's basically the stuff we reuse from the stuff we get sent!  We'd encourage you to recycle it where possible, or save it to use as packing next time you have to post something precious.  

RECYCLING PARTNER

RECYCLE:  If we can't re-use something we need to get rid of it... so we did ALOT of research.  And we found that actually the best solution was on our doorstep.  Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, as it turns out, have a great commercial waste recycling option.  We did some digging, and found out that the best option environmentally for our waste was to sign up to the most obvious option!  Who knew the easy option is sometimes the right option 👍

We chose WMDC Commercial Waste Service because:

All waste is processed in the Wakefield district, at the state of the art recycling facility in South Kirkby. 

We have a significantly larger recycling bin than our general waste bin.  All the cardboard, glass and plastics are recycled and sent straight back into the market.  Did you know it can take only 8 weeks for a can to be back on the shelf after recycling?!

From our general waste - any recyclable material is removed and sent to recycling.  Hopefully we don't miss anything but, you know, just incase. 

Other RECOVERY:  Then, any other plastics etc (all that packaging we talked about earlier?) are removed and sent to Ferrybridge where they provide fuel for the power station!  Its almost like our coal mining forefathers! 

That means we feel really confident that our waste funnel is super wide at the top and REALLY narrow at the bottom.  Only, hopefully, does a small amount of the waste we produce go to landfill without any energy recovery.

We are, and will stay, committed to moving ours waste UP the funnel - and pay really close attention to what is coming out of the bottom to reduce that to as close to zero as we can practically get.