Community Bike Programs
Donation & Recycling Programs
Keeping Bicycles Out of Landfill Sites
Bike Rescue: donated bikes are recycled back into use by the local community
(Photo: jessicareeder on flickr)
Unlike a car, it is very environmentally friendly to put an old bicycle back on the road. There are no emission concerns as exist with all but the most modern of cars, especially in the low emission zones increasingly being adopted by cities worldwide where congestion charges are being implemented. Unlike a car, it's also easy to do maintenance and repairs on a bicycle yourself, making use of tools you can affordably buy in a hardware store or use in-house at your local bicycle cooperative.
In fact, many people have an old bike or two in their garage, basement, attic or backyard that they haven't used in ages, especially in North America after the ten-speed and mountain bike booms in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively. Most bikes die an early death because their owners neglected them, especially bicycles stored outdoors, where the elements and vandals can take their toll. Flat tires, warped rims, rusty chains, bent pedals, torn or missing seats and broken lights are all signs of decay. But with a small investment of time and money your bike can be back on the road fast!
Bike Depot: old bikes are collected for take-back partners for repair and resale (Photo: Montgomery Cty Division of Solid Waste Services on flickr)
According to the Pedals for Progress website, 5 Million used bicycles are discarded in North America every year.
Perhaps the most environmentally friendly things to do is use a bike to save another bike. With a cycle trailer, you can pickup several donated bicycles and bring them back for repair and redistribution. Bike racks for car roofs mounted to flatbed trailers are the best way to transport bikes by bike without damage.
Fixing a bike isn't nearly as hard as you think. If you can rotate a screw driver or wrench you can look after a lot of bicycle maintenance tasks yourself, saving you more money and giving you a sense of accomplishment and pride. (Of course, a good bike mechanic or builder can lace and true their own wheels, upgrade all components and even design and weld their own custom frames.)
The point is, never just throw out your bicycle with the trash. If you want to get rid of it because you're not so good with your hands, don't have time or energy to fix your bike and you want to go out and buy the brand-new-Super-Duper-Mark-X-Ultra-City-Hybrid-Active-Plus model you saw advertised last week, give your old bike to a neighbour or someone who knows how to fix them. (Never give a broken bicycle to a child or youth for obvious reasons.) Or, consider donating it to your local community bicycle program.
Self-Service: many bicycle coops provide maintenance workshops and repair tools
(Photo: jessicareeder on flickr)
Increasingly, cycle-friendly governments at the muncipal level are permitting city recycling depots are becoming a place to bring old bicycles. After a preliminary sorting, many bicycles are given to bicycle cooperatives for fixing.
Every city has it's share of abandoned bicycles lying around either because the owner forgot where the bike was locked up or the bike was stolen or someone damaged or removed parts like the front tire or seat making the bike unrideable and the owner never bothered to remove it.
Police Auctions: many cities auction off unclaimed bikes every spring and fall
(Photo: police.auctions.canada on ebay)
In most cities, recovered but unclaimed bicycles are periodically auctioned off by the police or public works department.
Usually every spring and fall a collection of such abandoned bicycles is made by the works department who pass the bikes on to the locally-run programs for repair and then sell them to the public at accessible prices.
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