Cycling has long been considered an environmentally friendly activity. Finding ethical gear which is sustainable has been difficult. Cardboard head gear and organic cotton seats are in some stores. But many cyclists are more concerned about in performance than Earth.
Cycling is big. Worth over $26 billion as a global industry, there are between two and four billion riders in the world. More take up the sport each day. How come it can be difficult to find ethical gear? The team from Danny Shane are helping to lead the way by making it accessible through to look for cycling gears on their website, https://dannyshane.com/
Most cyclists don’t know the impact of the equipment they buy. Many have a mindset that believes they’re doing enough by riding a bike.
For example, the conventional cycling helmet. Most helmets are made of polystyrene, but once you’ve had a wreck and the helmet has done what it is supposed to do, protective qualities are gone. The polystyrene squishes and a new one must be purchased. Made from petrochemicals which are slow to biodegrade, the low weight is difficult to recycle. But it could be broken up into a very hippy planter.
Just a few years on the market is headgear built from recycled cardboard built around a honeycomb pattern. Fifteen-percent lighter than traditional helmets, it can absorb more of an impact.
Some designers are working on a biodegradable helmet created out of flax resin. Experts predict that within one year, new products aimed at the enthusiast and commuter will meet all the criteria for sustainability, ethics and be easy to find in the biking store around the corner. Technology trickles down and high-end processes work their way down to consumer price points.
In The Rain
Being caught on a bike when the torrents start is not good. Everyone carries some form of rain gear, but the chemicals used in waterproofing are not good for the environment.
The problem with waterproofing is perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, such as Scotchgard and GoreTex. PFCs kill lab rats and cause cancer in other lab animals. There are traces of PFCs in the environment as well as human blood. PFCs are stable chemicals and do their job nicely, but they don’t break down.
Fully Ethical Bike
Is a fully ethical bike even possible? There are companies making them out of bamboo and recycle shops which take old parts to build a new one. There is a busy trade in second-hand parts, but even with that, people still lean to the new.
The problem can be summed up by professional cyclist Francesca Barsamian who said, “durability and functionality are more important than sustainability.”
The Takeaway
Danny Shane points out Newer generations of cyclists are riding with the environment in mind. Formerly a rider could dumb anything along a race route. Now, along the Tour de France, for instances there are plenty of “zones of disposal.” The environment is becoming the top thing in a cyclists mind.
Bike riding puts out about 21g of carbon dioxide per mile. The average car blows out over 270g. As a cyclist, you are doing a good thing. Dig into the origins of the products you use and support companies which are rolling out ethics, sustainability and traceability through their product lines.