As far as being green, non-toxic, biodegradable etc. wherever possible: is there any collective wisdom out there on a non-petrolium, non super-yukko lube (and grease, for that matter)? The Durham Bike Co-op's just gotten off the ground, so we've used what's on hand mostly (tri-flow, park polylube), but tri-flow smells something awful and I'm not thrilled about putting it into the environment at all ... looking around the internet there seems to be some things out there (pedro's has something out that's supposed to be biodegradable, also a bunch of vegetable-based lubes designed for heavier applications like chainsaws...) Anyone out there have some positive experiences / knowledge to share?

peace,
Colin.

Nathan Pierce <natnc17@yahoo.com> wrote:

good point about getting peeps out of cars. If all the
people in cars rode bikes, then we spilled all the
used simple green from cleaning all the more bikes, it
would still be less pollution than all the cars were
previously making.

Still: give a hoot, don't pollute.

I don't mean to bag on anyone about pouring bad stuff
on trees. (And I don't want to debate it.) I just
wanted to point it out because some people still don't
know that what goes on the ground goes into our ground
water or into the rivers and oceans.

Peace out.

From,
Nathan

--- sprocket wrote:

> Nathan, I share your distrust of government
> regulatory agencies, but
> short of conducting our own tests, where else can we
> look for conclusive
> answers? I see your point about the waste from
> petroleum based
> lubricants etc. getting into the waste stream, but I
> think it would help
> to put that problem into perspective a little.
> Multiple 10's of thousands of cars drive through the
> downtown Tucson
> area every day spewing hydrocarbons and various
> deadly oxides into our
> air, and they leave behind them on the road
> surfaces, tons upon tons of
> tire dust (600,000 tons per year in the US), brake
> fluid, oil, etc. What
> doesn't go airborne washes into our storm sewers and
> straight into the
> Santa Cruz river which brought life to this valley
> in the first place.
> The story is the same in every city. My point here
> is that we are much
> better off focusing our efforts on getting people
> out of their cars and
> onto a bicycle than wasting energy fretting about an
> environmental
> impact that when compared to the larger
> environmental violence
> associated with the use of automobiles, doesn't add
> up to a hill of beans.
>
>
> my 2 cents,
>
> Ian
>
>
>
>
> Nathan Pierce wrote:
> > That's surprising about simple green, and makes me
> > feel a little better. (Though I don't thoroughly
> trust
> > EPA when it comes to that sort of thing... and the
> FDA
> > for that matter.) Yet using simple green to clean
> > parts adds other things besides the "simple"
> green,
> > which are bad for the soil and water... and runoff
> of
> > oil products pollutes a disproportionate amount of
> > water.
> >
> > I like Chris and Re-Cycles suggestions of coffee
> > filters to lengthen useful life [for whatever
> > cleaner], followed by the hazardous waste
> disposal.
> >
> >
> >
> > from,
> > Nathan
> >
> >
> > --- sprocket wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I let most of the stuff on this list float by,
> but
> >> Nathan, your comments
> >> piqued my interest. So, I did some research and
> >> found the simple green's
> >> Material Safety Data Sheet.
> >> (http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_msds.php)
> >> Here's what it had to say about putting simple
> green
> >> in the soil:
> >>
> >> Biodegradability: Simple Green is readily
> decomposed
> >> by naturally
> >> occurring microorganisms....Per OECD Closed
> Bottle
> >> Test, Simple Green®
> >> meets OECD and EPA recommendations for ready
> >> biodegradability.
> >>
> >> In a standard biodegradation test with soils from
> >> three different
> >> countries, Butyl Cellosolve reached 50%
> degradation
> >> in 6
> >> to 23 days, depending upon soil type, and
> exceeded
> >> the rate of
> >> degradation for glucose which was used as a
> control
> >> for
> >> comparison.
> >>
> >> Environmental Toxicity Information: Simple Green®
> is
> >> considered
> >> practically non-toxic per EPA’s Aquatic toxicity
> >> scale.
> >> --
> >>
> >> Seems like as cleaners go, this stuff is pretty
> >> benign, which I think is
> >> why Bicas and a lot of other places use it. The
> main
> >> active ingredient
> >> is butoxyethanol, which decomposes in the
> >> environment within a few days
> >> and has not been identified as a major
> environmental
> >> contaminant. It is
> >> not known to build up in any plant or animal
> >> species. And curiously,
> >> simple green is the substance used to clean the
> oil
> >> slick off of sea
> >> life when oil tankers spill their muck into the
> >> ocean.
> >>
> >> I can't imagine that butoxyethanol is what makes
> >> Bicas' mesquite tree
> >> grow...I'd bet that its all the extra water its
> >> getting...desert trees
> >> love to be watered.
> >>
> >> cheers,
> >>
> >> Ian
> >>
> >>
> >> ----------
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Nathan Pierce wrote:
> >>
> >>> Oh my God... that is so bad for the ground (and
> >>>
> >> ground
> >>
> >>> water) and surface runoff when it rains.
> >>>
> >>> Most communities have household hazardous waste
> >>> collection facilities, just for these types of
> >>> chemicals that are dangerous, bad for the
> >>>
> >> environment,
> >>
> >>> and they don't want in the landfill.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> From,
> >>> Nathan
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --- troy neiman wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> well, we here at bicas use a sink which drains
> >>>>
> >> into
> >>
> >>>> a bucket. the used
> >>>> simple green usually ends up in there and then
> we
> >>>> pour the bucket, when
> >>>> full onto our mesquite tree in front. i never
> >>>>
> >> would
> >>
> >>>> have thought but we
> >>>> have been doing it long before i was involved
> >>>>
> >> here.
> >>
> >>>> the tree loves it
> >>>> and has grown from just a 4 foot shrub into a
> >>>>
> >> full
> >>
> >>>> grown 25 foot tree in
> >>>> 5 or 6 years. maybe simple green, grease and
> >>>>
> >> hand
> >>
> >>>> cleaner act as a
> >>>> growth hormones or something. also we try to
> >>>> encourage that people first
> >>>> dilute the easy green, use minimal amounts of
> the
> >>>> stuff if soaking parts
> >>>> is absolutely necessary and also reuse it if
> >>>> possible as many times as we
> >>>> can. troybicas
> >>>>
> >>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>> From: "Andy Dyson"
> >>>> To: "The Think Tank"
> >>>> Subject: [TheThinkTank] Disposing of used
> >>>>
> >> simple
> >>
> >>>> green
> >>>> Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:39:21 -0400
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Ah, friendly simple green. Such a nice name.
> Is
> >>>> there anything you
> >>>> can
> >>>> do to this stuff to feel better about
> disposing
> >>>>
> >> of
> >>
> >>>> it. What do you
> >>>> guys
> >>>> do? .
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Andrew C. Dyson
> >>>> Executive Director Neighborhood Bike Works
> >>>> Increasing opportunities for youth through
> >>>> bicycling
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Check our Web Site:
> >>>> http://www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Neighborhood Bike Works
> >>>> 3916 Locust Walk,
> >>>> Philadelphia, PA 19104
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Office: (215) 386-0316
> >>>> Cell: (215) 873-6695
> >>>> FAX: (215) 386-7288
> >>>>
> >>>>
> _______________________________________________
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> >>>> thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >
>
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> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> --
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> >>>>
> >>>>>
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