I was watching one of the Green TV channels the other day (don’t remember the actual channel name because I so infrequently get to watch), but the host of the show gave me a great idea, recycled bikes.

For the Non Bike Rider

How many times have you gotten a great idea to get in shape, run out purchase a gym membership, order the Total Fitness Gym from TV or the latest get in shape video/DVD only to fizzle out and realize that you spent a ton of money for nothing? C’mon, you know you’ve done it once or twice or more in your life.

Well, the idea of a recycled bike sounded great. Currently I don’t have a bike, and my old ’spend and waste’ personality would have gone to a bike store and allowed the salesperson to convince me that I needed the latest, best most expensive bike loaded with a ton of useless gadgets. After purchasing such a bike, with all of the intentions of riding it regularly, I would ride the bike once or twice and it would sit in the garage, or my kids would ride and ruin it.

Recycled  Bike

A much more economical approach is to find a second hand bike, and fix it up. Not only is it more cost effective, it’s recycling at its best. You just have to know what to look for in a used bike. After all, brakes can always be repaired, tires replaced and gear chains replaced and oiled. A bent or broken bike frame is another story.

For folks like me looking to get back into the swing of biking, I think a used bike is a great place to begin. However, once I get to Lance Armstrong’s level, then I’ll contemplate getting a new bike.

While searching the internet, I came across these interesting sites involving bike recycling. If any of the recyclers are located near you, it might be worth checking them out:

Local Motion in Vermont
Recycle a Bike in Providence Rhode Island
Recycle a Bicycle in New York City
Recycled Cycles in Colorado

Your carbon footprint is measured by the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) your lifestyle produces. Things like driving a car, heating your home, use of electricity all produce carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide you produce over a certain amount of time is your carbon footprint.

Keep in mind that your footprint includes your own CO2 production, and a portion of the CO2 emitted in the manufacture of products you use. It’s tough to allocate one person’s individual portion of the emissions created in the production of a disposable bottle of water, but there are websites and CO2 footprint calculators available on the internet to help you figure it out.

Below are a few websites to help you do just that, calculate your carbon footprint:

The Nature Conservancy Carbon Footprint Calculator

Household Emissions Calculator

Terrapass

Visit all three of the sites. Check your carbon footprint thrice. Sometimes it takes multiple times for it to sink in. If you’re anything like me, after seeing your carbon footprint, you’ll be a lot more receptive to the tips for reducing your CO2 emissions.

If you have not done so already, I strongly suggest that you take a look at the Consumer World website.  In addition to looking through the website, you should sign up for their newsletter.

Consumer World has a fountain of information that everyone who buys anything should be aware of.  As a result of a link from their site, I recently read an article on how Purina Dog Food reduced the size of their dog food bag from 20 pounds to 18 pounds.  The price?  Well of course the price remained the same.

The folks at Mouse Print attempted on more than one occasion to get an explanation from Purina as to the reason for the downsized portions.  Rather than re-word their findings, check it out for yourself.

Lots of Info

No need for me to say anymore.  Check them out and check out the sites they link to.  If you’re like me, you’ll bookmark the Consumer World as a valuable resource.