Does the environment affect your purchasing decisions? ie paper vs plastic

[nathanm]

Firstly, is it affect or effect.

Secondly, I know there's a plastic bag, renewables thread in off topic but it's a bit big now to wade through and I'm interested in more MTB specific input.

and now the question - when buying bike stuff, does anyone consider the environment at all? Do you care about the materials used and what it comes packaged in?

The industry still does seem to use a lot of plastic but for example a bleed kit I bought recently came in a cardboard box which was fantastic, until it got contaminated with fluid and fell apart. When I wander through the LBS there still seems to be so much still bagged in plastics and personally I would pay a premium for cardboard, paper, bamboo packaging etc but does anyone else? Be also great to see the plastics in use being reusable like woolies bags.

 

[Freediver]

Affect- to change, Effect- the results of that change.
Does sustainability affect my choices? very much so. Does it have any effect? I doubt it.

 

[Stredda]

Firstly, is it affect or effect.

Secondly, I know there's a plastic bag, renewables thread in off topic but it's a bit big now to wade through and I'm interested in more MTB specific input.

and now the question - when buying bike stuff, does anyone consider the environment at all? Do you care about the materials used and what it comes packaged in?

The industry still does seem to use a lot of plastic but for example a bleed kit I bought recently came in a cardboard box which was fantastic, until it got contaminated with fluid and fell apart. When I wander through the LBS there still seems to be so much still bagged in plastics and personally I would pay a premium for cardboard, paper, bamboo packaging etc but does anyone else? Be also great to see the plastics in use being reusable like woolies bags.

Yeah, I would prefer no plastic in packaging.
I still would choose the product it's self first when it comes to choosing a product. I wouldn't choose a shit product, more environmentally wrapped over a superior product that may be wrapped in plastic. But if there were two products that had the same function and aesthetics and one was all wrapped in plastic and the other in something like cardboard, I'd definitely purchase the latter.

 

[nzhumpy]

We send a fair bit of stuff out in plastic and our clients have told us they don't like it, but in reality there was no other way around it so we sourced these. Clients love them and like the idea that we took the time to listen and actively make a change.

 

[rangersac]

and now the question - when buying bike stuff, does anyone consider the environment at all? Do you care about the materials used and what it comes packaged in?

Q: Would I like it to be made out of organic materials/ reusable materials and packaged in something compostable/ degradable?
A: Yes, but in reality there's virtually no way of knowing this if ordering online until the package is received.

 

[fjohn860]

We send a fair bit of stuff out in plastic and our clients have told us they don't like it, but in reality there was no other way around it so we sourced these. Clients love them and like the idea that we took the time to listen and actively make a change.

Do they come in red

 

[Labcanary]

I like that PNW have their droppers in cardboard packaging. In addition to this, I think they have a little card with a web address or QR code for the user manual?

Does it affect my decision to buy something? Sort of, kind of, yeah and nah.
I'll buy bulk where possible (for example cable housing, shifter and brake cables, cable ends)
I'll buy what I know to be good quality (less waste from crap things breaking prematurely)
I try to re-use packaging if possible (like things secured by cable ties, I try to re-use the cable ties). Spank handlebars packaging is also a mud guard.
I don't think purchase choices will necessarily create change, but some companies are receptive to constructive ideas, and some are already doing their best to make any small changes they can. Small changes are better than none.

 

[Halo1]

I am impressed when I get bike bits in a non plastic packaging and this makes me want to stick with the brand. I like to reuse stuff as well where I can Most packaging I can’t see at purchase as I buy online.
If I feel the need to declare a climate emergency then I really should give up MTB and buy bikes just for transport so I can ditch the car. I am not there yet but do like to be a good human as much as I can.

 

[slimjim1]

Yep, no more plastic bikes for me #steelisreal.

Someone mentioned PNW…have two rainiers that came in cardboard packaging, online only manuals, easily user serviceable and not disposable (reverb). The v1 would have well over 10,000kms on it and still runs mint. Needs to be more of this.

 

[Asininedrivel]

Be the change you want to see. Or something.

Some fairly irrelevant consumer advice but Chris King fire all their stuff off in simplistic yet pretty clever cardboard packaging. Also capture all alloy off cuts from the manufacturing process to sort and recycle, and a bunch of other stuff. They are the first bike component company to qualify as a B Corporation.

Does it make me more inclined to buy their stuff? Yes. Does it offset the guilt I feel for buying a brand new carbon frame who's offcuts absolutely went into the Mekong Delta rather than being properly recycled? Not really.

 

[Stredda]

Q: Would I like it to be made out of organic materials/ reusable materials and packaged in something compostable/ degradable?
A: Yes, but in reality there's virtually no way of knowing this if ordering online until the package is received.

It could help if the packaging was mentioned in the description for the purchase. So if it was a manufacturers packaging, it should be mentioned in the part description. If it was the retailers packaging (MTB Direct for instance) they should advertise that in their website and on the sales processing page.
It would be difficult from a retailers point of view as they just get the manufacture's packaging that is supplied, but they can at least not add any more plastic to it, when packaging an order.

 

[LPG]

I try to buy quality. Packaging is pretty relevant for food and consumables that people go through regularly but despite the pressure in here most of us don't buy enough bike gear for the packaging to be as relevant as getting the most out of the bike (and it's resource footprint). Packaging becomes more relevant if online sellers package a bag of nipples In a box big enough for a fridge...

 

[rangersac]

It could help if the packaging was mentioned in the description for the purchase. So if it was a manufacturers packaging, it should be mentioned in the part description. If it was the retailers packaging (MTB Direct for instance) they should advertise that in their website and on the sales processing page.
It would be difficult from a retailers point of view as they just get the manufacture's packaging that is supplied, but they can at least not add any more plastic to it, when packaging an order.

It's certainly something I notice when anything turns up in the post, not just bike parts. Examples include compostable packing for magazines vs plastic sleeves, or cellulose beads rather than polystyrene ones for padding. Ultimately it's the strength of the product that will define whether people will buy it in the first place, but if there's a choice between product A & B it's something I consider. Mind you I'm one of those weirdos that goes to bulk buy stores with my own containers, despite the fact that you generally pay a premium to do so!

 

[Minlak]

Not so easy to implement unless buying direct from the manufacturer - The retailer / supplier can only really supply it in the form it arrives - What the retailer could do however is have a tick box asking if you want environmentally friendly packaging for "X" premium.
A few places I interact with now have a greener option but you have to choose and pay a premium

 

[Squidfayce]

I generally don't make decisions based on environmental factors. I don't find the time required for most of those decisions to be worth the effort - ie which packaging my bike parts come in. Big stuff sure, but more so because there's some other factor - like electric cars, they're inherently cool, Solar power because its a better long term financial benefit etc. I'm offsetting my overall position by not having kids, the single largest contribution one can make to the environment.

 

[PJO]

I'm offsetting my overall position by not having kids, the single largest contribution one can make to the environment.

So wait, am I understanding your sentiment correctly?
You chose not to have children so you have carte blanche to do as you please?

And to hell with the environment:

I generally don't make decisions based on environmental factors.

At least that is what it sounds like...

 

[Squidfayce]

So wait, am I understanding your sentiment correctly?
You chose not to have children so you have carte blanche to do as you please?

And to hell with the environment:


At least that is what it sounds like...

nah, I don't make decisions with the intent to destroy the envornment, i just don't spend time choosing products based on what packaging they come in or trying to work out which apples have come from a closer orchard etc.

buuuuut. if i did take the approach of carte blance, id still be contributing less than even the most ultra militant hippy types who have kids.

 

[nathanm]

I generally don't make decisions based on environmental factors. I don't find the time required for most of those decisions to be worth the effort - ie which packaging my bike parts come in. Big stuff sure, but more so because there's some other factor - like electric cars, they're inherently cool, Solar power because its a better long term financial benefit etc. I'm offsetting my overall position by not having kids, the single largest contribution one can make to the environment.

Are you mistaking cows with kids?

 

[Stredda]

Technically if you want the best bang for buck for the environment it's taking yourself out of the equation and for bonus points creating some sort of virus that takes the rest of us out too

 

[Tubbsy]

buuuuut. if i did take the approach of carte blance, id still be contributing less than even the most ultra militant hippy types who have kids.

Did you make a heartbreaking decision not to have kids you really wanted so those who do will have a better life?

Or did you never want kids anyway but are keen to let us all know?