So what is the Carbon footprint of a bike?
That may have been difficult to calculate, but finally we have two studies that have reported a very similar figure ......and given that these organisations are much larger than our small workshop, and we have bikes to recycle - I suggest that we go with these.
"An older and widely cited figure (based on a dutch study and used by the European Cycling Federation) for the manufacturing footprint of bicycles is 96kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). According to Trek (the large US bike brand) the production of a basic model of its best-selling bikes - an entry level mountain bike - emits about 100kg of CO2e"
So let's say 100kg CO2e per bike.
So what does that mean?
Well - for every bike we can recycle and get back on the road, we can help the planet in three ways
1: One less bike thrown into landfill, polluting the planet.
2: 100kg fewer required to produce a new bike, because we have a recycled bike back in use
3: .....and lots of carbon saved by someone cycling rather than travelling in a car or on a bus.
This number could be big, depending how much cycling they do.
What does that mean for you?
Easy really - if you have a bike you don't need or don't really use (be honest with yourself!), you could improve your carbon footprint by 100kg if you donate your bike to us at the Recycle Bike Hub.
10 people doing this means we can save One Tonne of carbon
......that's worth thinking about.
Thanks for reading
Richard