Planet Bike Love
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | June 11, 2009
I’ve mentioned Planet Bike in passing before, but I think it’s time to show them some direct affection. First off, they make really great bike accessories including headlights, taillights, fenders (mine are yellow!), computers and ping pong balls (I’m confused)– all of which helps us bike safer and happier, which is good stuff.
But do they stop there? No. No, they don’t.
For one thing, they donate 25% of their profits to bicycle advocacy. Stop rubbing your eyes, you read that right– 25%! In their words: “Since 1996 Planet Bike has donated over $660,000 to grassroots bicycle advocacy, and we aim to donate a total of $1,000,000 by 2009. Most of our money goes to the Alliance for Biking & Walking, (formerly the Thunderhead Alliance), a coalition of 140 bicycle advocacy groups across the nation that are working together to promote safe bicycling.”
(Kind of makes that whole “1% for the Planet” thing look kinda wimpy, doesn’t it? )
And their factory is fully solar powered– not only that, but it only uses about 1/3 of the energy the array produces, and so feeds the rest back into the grid. (Photos of the sunshiney goodness!)
And they use 100% recycled packaging with soy-based inks for their products.
And they create awesome pages like “Five simple things you can do with your bicycle to make the world a better place“.
And they encourage customers to buy replacement parts for their gear, which is both REDUCING (the production/purchase of new gear when all you need is a replacement clip) and REUSING (the parts which are still fully functional): “This is a comprehensive list of all the little parts that you may have lost, crashed, or worn out. To encourage you to rebuild your stuff rather than toss it in the rubbish bin, we offer free shipping on all spare parts.”
To wrap up the PB Love, I’ll finish with a passage from their manifesto:
Just as we are conscious of the way cycling affects people and the environment, we are also aware of the impact that our products have on them. We feel that it is our responsibility to be accountable for our products from production to disposal. This entails everything from ensuring a fair wage for factory workers, designing products to be both durable and fixable, minimizing packaging and using recyclable materials whenever, wherever we can.
Gandhi said, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” The change we want should be obvious by now, but to be that change we feel that we need to do more than just create products that make it easier for people to bike. That’s why we donate 25% of our profits to grassroots organizations that facilitate the use of bicycles. We want to take part in a transportation revolution and hopefully inspire other companies and individuals to join us.
Three cheers for a company doing good work, creating good products, and giving back in meaningful, direct, and impactful ways.
[Image by Marco Gomes via Creative Commons]
Topics: Transportation | 9 Comments »
[...] Read the original: Planet Bike Love [...]
makes me feel so guilty that i could bike if i lost weight and got in shape, but last week while hobbling on sidewalk (sprained ankle) almost got run down by a bike, scared the ….
Aw, I’m sorry a rogue cyclist scared the bejebus out of you. That’s no good for anyone, and there are a lot of riders out there who either don’t really know the right ways to ride or are too slick to care.
Personally I’ve taken a vow to Not Frighten Pedestrians– so if they have the light I always let them cross before I go through the intersection. Sometimes I even smile at them to engender good relations between peds and bikes, kind of like a UN ambassador might, if UN ambassadors cared about that sort of thing.
Aw Jenn that’s awesome!! I think eye-contact etc is a really good way to create positive vibes between cyclists and peds. I feel that my cycling has definitley made me a better pedestrian and vice versa.
Last week I was walking through a cross walk and I saw a cyclist riding down the street, signaling to turn right, across the cross walk. I had plenty of time to let them through in front of me so I waved them through, so they could keep their momentum. The cyclist gave me a wave and a huge smile. The reaction was so warm that my boyfriend who I was walking with asked if I knew the person…nope, just a fellow non-driver.
Stepho, I love the big grins that random peds cyclists give each other! It makes me so happy to connect in that way, and I actually think that’s a big part of why bike riding is such a joyous activity. Sometimes I catch myself riding with a goofy grin for no apparent reason and I find myself wishing I could give a bike to everybody…
plus bikes are not allowed to ride on sidewalks! it’s against the law. they are considered cars in NYS.
[...] I’ve raved before about a bicycle-accessories company (Planet Bike) which provides not only excellent customer service, but replacement parts for the gear they sell. This kind of policy is so super, and so super-green, because it enables one to keep on using the items they’ve already purchased even if a screw is lost or a clip breaks. So much trash would be kept out of the waste stream if more companies provided this service– it would prevent us from having to purchase a new teapot if only the lid cracks, you know? I realize that would then theoretically cut into the company’s profits, but perhaps not– when you have to go shopping for a replacement teapot, there’s a good chance you’ll buy it from another company altogether… which means the original company might do well to provide replacement parts at a reasonable price. [...]
sinus infection cure…
I’ m sick now, having caught what everyone else seems to have, even though I thought maybe I’ d remain untouched by the winter cold this year, but amazingly, the netti (tea) pot isn’ t yet appealing enough for me to use. Despite, as J informed me…
Now, that’s a really awesome, shows that green doesn’t mean it’s crappy stuff. Thanks for this little overview!