Motorcycles, tyres and the environment might not be the best bed-fellows but here at Two Tyres we’re conscious that we have a role to play when it comes to the environment.
We see a lot of companies spouting on about reducing carbon footprints, zero waste, carbon neutrality and being green – but what does that actually mean in the real world?
DOING OUR BIT
We’re doing our best to ensure that we’re at least thinking about the impact we have. That’s the first step. Where we can, we’re doing our best to reduce the amount of stuff that’s left behind long after we’ve departed from this planet. We can’t promise carbon neutrality or zero waste but we can promise that we’re doing our best to improve every day.
Here’s a breakdown of everything we do that has a potentially detrimental effect and how we’re trying to improve things.
TYRE DISPOSAL
Ever wondered what happens to your tyres once you’ve used and abused them on your favourite roads? We work with a certified tyre disposal firm to ensure that tyres are safely, legally and responsibly dealt with. We pay this firm to take our tyres away as we then know they’re properly dealt with and not just thrown into landfil or even worse, dumped down a country lane.
If a tyre has life left in it, it’s sent through a channel where it ends up being used again. Often these tyres end up in Africa or India where they’re happy to get the last few miles from your tyres. If a tyre is not reusable, it’s sent to a plant that breaks it down, where it’s used in a host of other industrial applications.
PACKAGING
Single use packaging is a nightmare. We send out a lot of mail orders, so we’ve prioritised minimising waste in this particular area.
When it comes to sending out tyres, we’ve experimented with loads of ways to send them out securely by using the minimum amount of packaging. We use quality strong tape, which means we don’t have to use loads of it. We also use film wrap. Currently this isn’t biodegradable but there are a few options coming onto the market which we will switch to. We know we can do better here and we’re working to improve this.
Every small item we send out mail order uses recycled or recycleable packaging.
All of our mailing bags are made from recycled plastic or are themselves recycleable or biodegradable.
The cards we use in each order are also recycleable.
The sales receipts are recyclable.
Our suppliers send us ridiculous amounts of single-use packaging. Where we can we reuse this in customer orders. So if a delicate item requires protection we’ll use the padded envelope, bubblewrap or cut up the cardboard box that was used when a supplier sent stuff to us.
PRINTING
We try and email our customers their receipts rather than printing them. However, when the printer is called into action, all of our printer paper is from recycled sources and we recycle the stuff we throw in the bin to our best ability.
SERVER HOSTING
Our server eats a lot of electricity while it crunches all of your requests. We’re pleased to say we have found a host that uses 100% renewable electricity.
ENERGY USE
Our main workshop uses LED lighting which uses 90% less energy than conventional light bulbs.
It is very hard to get a commercial supplier to supply eco-friendly electricity, generated from renewable sources, on a good tariff. We are working to improve this.
TREE PLANTING
We’re currently exploring ways in which we can plant trees when we sell tyres. That way, when you buy tyres from us, you know that you have contributed to a tree being planted somewhere in the UK.
This sounded like a relatively easy task when we first thought of it but it is more complicated than we first imagined. But we’re still keen to make this a reality and we’re working with some exciting prospects to make this happen.
