Bike Advocate 8

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

Normally I discuss a law or ordinance as it pertains to bicycling, but this article will be a bit different. Fortunately, laws do exist that encourage the three R's above however II won't go into those details as we should all want to do this all the time anyway.

We use no fuel and spew no emissions yet sometimes enjoy similar facilities as motorized sports. For example, the great events that have been held at Irwindale Speedway. However, how many of you have heard of the three R's? Do you practice them? What does this have to do with our sport? Our sport should be considered environmentally friendly don't you think? How do we demonstrate this? Well, for one, rubber inner tubes are not biodegradable! I have seen discarded tubes along bike lanes, road shoulders, by trails and other areas cyclists frequent. I don't like that. This gives us a bad reputation and could indicate that we don't care. Energy gel and bar wrappers also are not biodegradable so unless you are using them at an event where staff cleans them up later, keep them with you until you can dispose of them properly.

Do you know that bike shops will recycle rubber tubes? All you have to do is take your tubes to them. You can also patch the tube and reuse it. Hey, if you patch your tube only once and then throw it away the next time it leaks, you have reduced your consumption by half. Do you have more than one bike? If so, perhaps your "race" bike can have all the latest and newest equipment on it while your "other" bike can get a bit longer lifetime out of it's consumable parts. However, we all know to replace tires or parts that may be a safety hazard so never compromise your safety to save a few bucks.

What about those bike publications like the one you are reading now? Do you read them once and then pitch them in the Dumpster only to have them soon begin converting their carbon atoms into greenhouse gases in your local landfill? Don't do it! That is a terrible waste. How many times have you had an appointment, been in your local professional's waiting room and found nothing but Sports Illustrated or National Geographic to read? Perhaps you have not been to my doctor or dentist's office? Try this, please. Bring your used So Cal Bicyclist, Velo News, Bicycling, and other bike magazines there and leave them in the waiting room. So what if the magazine is a month old? Why keep our sport to ourselves? What better way to spread the word about our sport than to have its publications and periodicals available everywhere? My guess is that if there were a bike magazine in every doctor's, dentists, lawyers, or accountant's waiting room next to every Sports Illustrated magazine our sport would get increased respect and attention. Be an ambassador and help spread the word. Who knows? Perhaps one of those professionals may decide to sponsor your team or event as a result?