How to introduce Sustainability into your cycling life

Get your Sustainability Game On

The environment might be cleaner today, but it is also a lot warmer. How does a cyclist channel the activism of Earth Day today? One way is to get your sustainability game going. Here are some pointers:

• Consolidate all your bike gear into the things you use regularly. Sell or donate the rest of it. 
• Stop buying a new bike each year or one for each day of the week. You don’t have the time to ride them all. 
• Stop hoarding old technology. Nine speed is never coming back. 
• Buy a bike that is made of longer lasting materials. Steel, titanium, aluminum are more permanent and if you are not racing, you don't really need carbon.
• Buy a bike that is made domestically. They are affordable, beautifully made and their production emits fewer greenhouse gasses.  
• Use the components you already have on your next bike build. You don’t need another set of handlebars or a new seat. 
• Find a bike shop that is ready to partner with you on your next bike build rather one that is just trying to sell you yet another bike. Drop the shops who charge you extra for not buying components from them for your bike build project.
• Find a bike company that has made sustainability a central part of their product offering and business strategy.

Cyclists! Change thy ways!

There is a surplus of bicycles in the world today. You can be sure that the bicycle industry is going to continue to add to that surplus again this year because the majority of the leadership lacks imagination and there is little will to make big changes to the status quo. N+1 is the path of least resistance for industry leaders, but it insults the intelligence of cyclists and it is dissonant at a time when there clearly needs to be a serious change to how resources are used and managed to produce bicycles. Despite all the platitudes and “impact” reports, the bicycle industry knows only the dollar and will only change its ways once consumers change theirs. Earth Day is a good time to think about all of this and start making those changes.