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Being Environmentally conscious: How We (Try To) Do It

Being environmentally sound is like an initial investment: at first it comes at a cost, but the pay-off is incomparable.
Environmental consciousness has been tarnished by a few extreme examples of frugality and hostile behaviour towards those, who aren’t as conscious.
Moderation is key, as they say, and small accomplishments add up over time like compound interest.

We hope this blog-post inspires you to take the small steps that lead to long distances in terms of environmental consciousness. What might seem tedious at first will become rudimentary in a week or two – we’re all capable of learning and changing for the better in terms of conservation, both material and mental.

Buy Things That Last, Stuff That You Need
From our experience, well known but with higher price tag products are worth buying and using. 

  • They last longer and are well designed. The best for us is Schwalbe puncture proof tires. They are a big investment for our rental bikes but we have no problems with them and in the long run save a lot of money changing inner tubes. And it is much more reliable to use and gives comfort.
  • Their parts could be replaced, in case something is broken or worn out
  • They are more convenient to use because of years of experience and development
  • Many customers have the same brand at home and trust the equipment, know how it works. 

Our brands are Ortlieb, Shimano, Park Tool, Schwalbe etc. 

Having Your market defined is like having Your personal goals defined – without that, you’re just wandering aimlessly, and as Seneca said: “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable”. Define Your needs, buy stuff that lasts. 

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
We resell our beloved equipment. It is in good condition and its history is well known to us. Bicycles are well serviced and despite the scratches of surface, the equipment is reliable. From feedback of our clients equipment bought from us as secondhand, works well and worth the price.

Recycling doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to hoard trash per-se, but rather see value in things which might seem like trash at first – reevaluate it in your mind’s eye. For example, bicycle tubes. A punctured, blown out tube might seem like a bunch of stretchy trash at first, but it can be turned into a woven bottle-holder, a bungee-cord.

Another thing we do is that we try to prolong the life of every zip-tie we find in our day to day work-life. Of course new zip-ties are also used, but we try to use the ones we already have beforehand. It is actually just a matter of one cut – be sure to cut it from the right side. On some busy days we could save 50-100 zip-ties and that’s already quite a lot of plastic.

A rudimentary yet fundamental practice of ours is that we give our best to sort the trash which we have. Even the different bicycle parts that are obsolete or broken get sorted into different packages which we take to the recycling facility every two weeks. And sometimes make some interior design elements out of it.

Luggage transfer every day or not?

In Estonia not so many cyclists travel the same routes on the same day. And the systems, Bett und Bike and others have, are great for luggage transfer but. In Estonia it would be on most days 40-60 km driving one direction to take 1-2 suitcases to the next accommodation and then pointless driving back. And it is damn expensive. Therefore we do not offer daily luggage transfer from 2024 any more. You still have options to store the bag during your ride for free in our office or order courier service from start to finish. And we recommend to carry as much as you use during your cycling trip and spend the money you would have spent on daily luggage transfers to consume local food and services. 

Luggage transfers used to be a part of our daily work, but now, for the past few years, we’ve ceased to transport the luggages from one accommodation to another, the only exception being that if requested, we send the luggage to the final destination of the customer, be in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.

Other things that matter to us:

  • We recycle. Almost from the beginning of our operations, from 2003. Paper and metal, plastic and glass. All separate. And if you get a package from our e-shop in a funny carton box, know it probably came from a Shimano spare part or from an Abus lock we use on our rental bikes.
  • Big bicycle cartons we use for packing bikes and have such a service for cyclists finishing in Tallinn and flying back home
  • Old rags, towels and other fabrics worn out! Our mechanics welcome them for cleaning bikes
  • Disposable cups, forks, knives and plates are not used in our office, offering to you coffee or organising picnic stops on our bicycle tour.