Re - cycling ......

[ozboz]

Re cycling old inner tubes ,I was in a local BS on Monday , on the counter was a box with things made out of old inner tubes , what a top idea , wallets and phone covers etc , what a Top idea , completely waterproof which is a big bonus for those if us that go out riding regardless, another Big plus In my book , they were made in a third world country ,

[Cheddar Man]

To be a bit controversial.........

These people do this, https://www.cycleofgood.com and I am sure they are ethical etc, but there must be a better way to do it?

Basically you drop off an old innertube to, say, Exeter. It is then sent a few hundred miles to Stoke on Trent. They then go over 5000 miles to Malawi, where 10 people are employed to turn them in to stuff. They then come back over 5000 miles to Stoke on Trent and then sent out again to shops. So maybe 15000 miles of travel for an innertube to become a wallet. I reckon that this could be done in the UK by projects around the place?

Charity is never easy eh?

[Lazarus]

What you have to remember is most of that journey is happening anway

So they send a bit to you this requires a vehicle - this same vehicle then takes some stuff back with it rather than it being empty so its not double the journey rather its making the return journey useful
That said the flying it abroad bit is going to be hard to justify

Food miles is another one tomatoes grown locally may have to be in heated greenhouses so actually worse than ones flown in etc
You just try your best to be ethical and if enough of us do Amazon goes out of business - I wont hold my breath

[Cheddar Man]

Well 500 miles of it may be happening in a lorry. But consider the tubes have probably come from China or Taiwan, so about 5000 miles to start. Then another 10000 miles to employ 10 people doesn't seem an overly good deal CO2 wise, I think Greta would have something to say about it for a wallet.

At least if they brought their operation to Stoke on Trent it may save a 4.8t of CO2 (London to Chileka return, assuming they send the tubes economy class ) and offer some local charities or projects some income.

And I agree with the food point, it's a weird old world we live in, fresh strawberries on Christmas Day and parsnips for a June barbeque!

Also our sport is not exactly the greenest is it? I bet we all have several bikes, tarpaulins, sleeping bags and lord knows what else, most of it shipped in from the Peoples Republic, or elsewhere in the Far East, then we moan about the pollution China's manufacturing industry.

I can't agree about Amazon though, who else would be able to get a pair of Aftershockz headphones that I ordered at 10.15, pi55ed on a Saturday evening, dropped off in my local locker before Currys opened at 10 on the Sunday morning? 11 hours delivery time! Staggering And to think we all used to patiently wait for the '28 P+P'

[holdsteady]

check out all the stuff Beerbabe does with re-cycled inner tubes etc, frame bags, wallets etc - really good quality too

https://www.beerbabe.co.uk/ourshop/

[Alpinum]

What you have to remember is most of that journey is happening anway

People fly anyway.
But it's about how I feel about it. I like trips abroad, far flung and exotic places, but I have a hard time doing it and so I stay away from flying for a year or two after a year of, say, a flight from Switzerland to Iceland and back and another from Switzerland to Chile and back.
Knowing that eg some fly from mainland Europe to the Canaries more than once a month doesn't change my flying behavior.

I guess this approach can be adopted for many other things, including the thread topic.

[sean_iow]

Food miles is another one tomatoes grown locally may have to be in heated greenhouses so actually worse than ones flown in etc

Some of the tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses just round the corner from my house will end up in Waitrose in Dubai I sometimes ride past on my commute but there's only so much carbon offsetting one person can do. I don't use tubes so that must help a bit?