Among the reasons many cyclists love bikes is because they are probably the worlds most environmentally friendly ways to get from A to B, have fun, and to stay Fit. Environmental awareness is making headlines everyday, and a lot of companies are spouting off about what they are doing to support the cause. We are a little hesitant to be the type of company that rings it's own bell, we are kind of shy. But we are going to anyway. So check it out, or don't. We won't be offended if you take a pass.
Lumber Recycling
When we moved into our location it was a bookstore. Complete with Shelves and more then a few books. We disassembled the shelves and stored the wood in our garage for use later. Our Work Bench is made from that wood. The wood that holds our bike display hooks is too. Most of the furniture and fixtures in the store are second hand. Cheaper? yes, Greener, yup. by the way, the books that were salvageable went to the Arlington Heights Friends of the library book drive.
Oh, if you need some cheap shelving pine, and live in the area, let us know.
Flooring Choice
Our wooden flooring is bamboo, the general consensus is that since bamboo is not a hardwood, it is much more environmentally friendly then many alternatives. So not only is it pretty, durable and fairly affordable, it's also softening our footprint.
Lighting
Every light bulb we replace is being replaced with a florescent bulb when available (they don't seem to come in candelabra bases). yea, it's not much. but every little bit, right. Florescent lights are not terribly popular in many stores because the light is not always considered warm, or soft. But we do it anyway.
Cleaning Fluid
Even the "Green" stuff that many shops use to clean bikes and parts is pretty caustic, and is only green compared to the other products. We have some of that stuff around and will use it when necessary, but for the vast majority of our needs we find that alcohol works just fine. It requires a little extra elbow grease. But because it evaporates so quickly, it doesn't have a chance to make it into our ground water.
Java
The coffee we serve and sell is organic and free trade. and yummy too.
Decorations and Gifts
Most of the bicycle themed gifts we sell are made from recycled bike parts. So not only are they cool, but... yup you guessed it, they are green too.
There's probably more, and as we think of them maybe we'll post them. If you know of something we should be doing drop us a note. It will be considered. Really.
