Green Sports Ohio was formed out of the vision of a husband and wife that have a passion for sport and an even deeper passion for the environment. The sport of cycling has captivated millions for over a century and connects with anyone who has ever learned to ride a bike. We all remember the first ride we made without those training wheels and the wreck that followed soon after, but as we grew older so few of us remember the responsibility we have to pass on an environment where a new generation can experience their first ride. Green Sports Ohio and its subsidiary Carbon Racing have teamed up to create programs that not only benefit the *90 million people who participate in cycling activities each year but also those companies that provide goods and service to those people. Daniel and Erin Quinlan have accomplished a lot in the sport of competitive cycling but wanted to do more. Since their introduction to the sport they have raced their way to an elite status on a local, regional and national level. Through their social networking they built a reputation of excellence in their field and in 2008 developed their own team, “Carbon Racing” who is nationally recognized on the racing calendar for not only their skill but their mission. Our Recycle to Cycle™ vision began early when we changed that first set of worn tires and the waste management service refused them. From then on our passion for the environment drove us to a solution.
Recycle To Cycle™ was developed to address one of the largest environmental hazards in the sport of cycling, the millions of used tires and tubes. In the last five years an estimated **18 million bicycles per year were sold in the United States and as we all know each bike comes with two tires and two inner tubes meaning over 36 million tires and inner tubes per year are being shipped into the United States. Do to the demanding task these tires and tubes are required to perform their relative life expectancy is often only 1-2 years, at which point they will need replaced. For durability these products are made from rubberized materials that once they have out lived their usefulness they pose an enormous problem with disposal. Similar to car tires, if bicycle tires are deposited in landfills they collect water creating breeding grounds for disease and bacteria. Their “bouncy” nature form air pockets giving methane gases a place to buildup and potentially catch fire. Furthermore these pesky products will last hundreds of years once buried.
Through personal experiences and a network of cyclists we have found that most bicycle dealers and shops simply throw used tires and tubes into the trash and although waste management services try to avoid this by pulling the tires and tubes out of trash bins and leaving them behind they are unable to stop a majority of the material from reaching landfills. This hazardous waste has been long over looked due to the size and quantity of materials being disposed of on an individual basis i.e. bicycle enthusiast or bike shops, however with over 36 million tires and tubes per year being shipped into the United States the problem is much more apparent. Programs focused at recycling car and truck tires need to move large volumes of materials to maintain positive cash flow and therefore avoid the small individual quantities of used bicycle tires and tubes.
Green Sports Ohio and Carbon Racing have created a unique collection and recycling program to reduce the disposal of bicycle tires and tubes into our landfills by utilizing existing tire recycling facilities that shred the old tires and tubes for use in multiple products such as Astroturf, tire derived fuel, rubber mulch and drainage base for building foundations. Leveraging our relationships with point of distribution locations we intend on placing well designed and convenient drop off bins for patrons to use as recycling centers. We intend to pilot this program in Ohio and Pennsylvania throughout 20 point of distribution locations. With joint efforts from national sponsors, manufacturers and cycling enthusiasts the bicycle tire recycling program is capable of expanding to locations across the country and significantly impact the number of tires being deposited into landfills.
We will continue to invest a great deal of time and effort into making this program successful however without the help of additional partners and sponsors our efforts will fall short of our goals of a national program.
- Key Partners: