For 2003 Aaron's Bicycle Repair has won
The EPA's WasteWise Award for Small Business Recycling
and
The 2003 Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices
In 2002 we won the BEST Award: Press Release below:
City of Seattle Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
|
News Release |
Date: May 16, 2002
West Seattle Business Honored for Environmental Practices
Aaron's Bicycle Repair Wins BEST Award for Waste Prevention and Recycling
SEATTLE, WA - The Business and Industry Resource Venture and its program partners honored Aaron's Bicycle Repair today at the first annual Seattle BEST Awards Breakfast Ceremony at the W Hotel in Seattle. The West Seattle-based business was one of seven local companies who received BEST (Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow) Awards.
Aaron's Bicycle Repair, 6521 California SW, recycles more than 90 percent of their waste. They participate in the City of Seattle Small Business Curbside Recycling Program, which means that they recycle a wide variety of common recyclables for free. To make recycling easy for his employees, owner Aaron Goss placed four five-gallon buckets under the workbench. Each bucket is used to hold different recyclable materials: bicycle chains and gears; glass, plastic and mixed paper; scrap iron; and scrap aluminum. A fifth five-gallon bucket is used for garbage, and it takes over a week to fill it.
Aaron Goss collects food waste from shop employees and takes it home to compost it or feed it to his chickens. The shop also accepts the following items from its customers for recycling: dry-cell batteries, freewheels, chains, scrap bicycle iron and aluminum, mountain bike inner tubes and tires ($1 fee per tire).
To promote waste prevention, shop employees encourage customers to purchase products that can be reused, like rechargeable light systems and patch kits for leaky inner tubes. The company also promotes waste prevention and recycling through its Web site, www.rideyourbike.com.
Aaron's has been a five star member of the EnviroStars program since 1997.
The BEST Awards celebrate notable "green" achievements by companies in the Greater Seattle area. Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Leahy presented awards in the following categories:
"The BEST Awards are proof that what's good for the environment is also good for business," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. "The City and the private sector are partners in the effort to conserve resources and prevent pollution. I'm proud of the work of our business community to protect and sustain the environment," he added.
"The Chamber is pleased to be a partner in the BEST Awards," said Steve Leahy, president and CEO of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "The winners remind us that the environment is everyone's business, and that there are cost-effective ways for every company to make a difference," he said.
BEST Awards program partners include:
The Business and Industry Resource Venture, a partnership of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Seattle Public Utilities, provides free information, assistance and referrals to help Seattle businesses improve their environmental performance. For more information, contact the Resource Venture at (206) 389-7304 or help@resourceventure.org. You can also visit the Web site, resourceventure.org.
Aaron's Bicycle Repair has been the ONLY bike shop listed in the Natural Choice Directory. ABR has been a 5 star EnviroStar member commited to reducing our use of toxic chemicals since 1997.