Hello, everyone --
Our operation, the Bicycle Co-Op of Williamsburg (Virginia) is nearly three years old. We receive donated bicycles, refurbish them, and sell them or (mostly!) give them away. We've been amazed at the number of bikes we receive! We've tracked the months when donations have been heavier (like early spring) and when they've been less so (like the winter months), but the donation stream has been surprisingly strong ever since we opened.
I have a question for others who receive bicycles by donation, and who have been in operation longer than we have. Does the time come when donations slow down? We're wanting to plan for that, if there's any way we can expect what might happen in the future.
Thanks!
Andy Ballentine
In our experience, donations never slowed down. That said, here are some things we did to have a bit of control over the flow of donations:
- advertising on Facebook and Instagram
- putting our contact info on the city's website (or not) under the
waste disposal section. We know people came to us through that channel.
- asking for a picture of the bike before accepting the donation (this
was a barrier that deterred some donations)
- asking local organizations to take our refurbished bikes (like orgs
that work with newcomers to Canada. We are in Regina, Saskatchewan.) The more we donated to actual organizations, the more the word got out that we take (took) unwanted bikes.
- We have no experience with this, but Saskatoon (city 2h north of us
and much more advanced in terms of biking) bike co-op had (has) a deal with the landfill. They go to the landfill once a week and pick up diverted bikes. So having a deal like that would effectively boost donations.
Those are my ideas for now. Angèle Bike Regina board member
BIKE*REGINA*
info@bikeregina.org bikeregina.org Facebook https://b-m.facebook.com/bikeregina/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bikereginaofficial/
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 9:31 AM Andy Ballentine via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
Hello, everyone --
Our operation, the Bicycle Co-Op of Williamsburg (Virginia) is nearly three years old. We receive donated bicycles, refurbish them, and sell them or (mostly!) give them away. We've been amazed at the number of bikes we receive! We've tracked the months when donations have been heavier (like early spring) and when they've been less so (like the winter months), but the donation stream has been surprisingly strong ever since we opened.
I have a question for others who receive bicycles by donation, and who have been in operation longer than we have. Does the time come when donations slow down? We're wanting to plan for that, if there's any way we can expect what might happen in the future.
Thanks!
Andy Ballentine _______________________________________________ TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...
We've been in operation since 2007 and have tracked a fair amount of data for much of that time period. Numbers of all sorts got skewed during the years coinciding with the COVID pandemic but otherwise trends have generally maintained or risen in terms of donations of cash and bikes as well as our volunteer hours, and bikes given away/sold. One thing our Board and Staff sets as a yearly goal is keeping the ratio of bikes sold to bikes given away free as close to 1:1 as possible. This has required a balancing act of pricing some bikes higher when we need to slow sales down, or doing special events to give away bikes when we need those numbers to come up. Along that line we've had an annual "kids bike giveaway" that we promote around Christmas time where we give any child who wants one a free bike (under 26") and it's brought in a ton of great press for us and has put smiles on hundreds of kids' faces.
Cheers, Sam
*SAM HARALDSON *
Bozeman Bike Kitchen
President, Board of Directors
2104 Industrial Drive
A community cycling center
bozemanbikekitchen.org
We get close to 2000 donations bikes a year. It never slows down.
Peace & grease,
*Audrey Wiedemeier* (She/her/hers) Iowa City Bike Library, Director
1222 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City, IA *Hours: Wednesdays & Friday 12 - 5 and SATURDAYS 10 - 3* Want to donate? Drop off anytime during these hours. Thank you!
BikeLibrary.org C: (515) 450-1651
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 3:44 PM Sam Haraldson via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
We've been in operation since 2007 and have tracked a fair amount of data for much of that time period. Numbers of all sorts got skewed during the years coinciding with the COVID pandemic but otherwise trends have generally maintained or risen in terms of donations of cash and bikes as well as our volunteer hours, and bikes given away/sold. One thing our Board and Staff sets as a yearly goal is keeping the ratio of bikes sold to bikes given away free as close to 1:1 as possible. This has required a balancing act of pricing some bikes higher when we need to slow sales down, or doing special events to give away bikes when we need those numbers to come up. Along that line we've had an annual "kids bike giveaway" that we promote around Christmas time where we give any child who wants one a free bike (under 26") and it's brought in a ton of great press for us and has put smiles on hundreds of kids' faces.
Cheers, Sam
*SAM HARALDSON *
Bozeman Bike Kitchen
President, Board of Directors
2104 Industrial Drive
A community cycling center
bozemanbikekitchen.org _______________________________________________ TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...
Perhaps what I am going to say goes wider than what was asked initially, but it might be of use. For 5 years I helped run the french network of bike kitchens (l'Heureux Cyclage https://www.heureux-cyclage.org/?lang=fr, LHC) and was involved in running those spaces in the transborder Greater Geneva area: my french kitchen was En Ville À Vélo https://envilleavelo.fr/ and my swiss one La Bicyclette Bleue https://www.bicyclettebleue.ch/.
One of the greatest contributions of LHC to French public life was to first analyze and push for a legal framework for the recycling of second-hand bikes in the country, starting in 2014. The push over the years was so successful that today the industrial sector (Europe still has bike manufacturers) became interested in the recycling of bikes, though their model is more about recycling tonnes of metal instead of recycling and repairing individual bikes. As of now the talk is of a budget appropriation of 100 M euros for the industrial sector and 1-2 million for the bike kitchens ( of which there are about 600 in the country, you can find them in this map https://www.heureux-cyclage.org/les-ateliers-en-france.html?lang=fr). Still, that money would represent a couple of extra thousands of euros for the (very) artisanal kitchens that have sprung all over the country.
I have talked with some people running kitchens in the US, notably in Mass, where I am now based, and it appears that for some organization trying the bike kitchen model the amount of bikes available become an insurmountable issue of moving piles of bikes ( they would say trash) from one pile to the next, to the point that they decide to abandon the practice. I also know that some of the most successful examples are akin to the bike not bombs model, in fact I have been helping Working Bikes Chicago send containers of 10-speed Schwinns to Latinamerica to make space in their basement.
Anyways, I hope this information is of use to ( some) of you.
Alejandro
On Wed, 26 Jun 2024 at 17:06, Audrey Wiedemeier via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
We get close to 2000 donations bikes a year. It never slows down.
Peace & grease,
*Audrey Wiedemeier* (She/her/hers) Iowa City Bike Library, Director
1222 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City, IA *Hours: Wednesdays & Friday 12 - 5 and SATURDAYS 10 - 3* Want to donate? Drop off anytime during these hours. Thank you!
BikeLibrary.org C: (515) 450-1651
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 3:44 PM Sam Haraldson via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
We've been in operation since 2007 and have tracked a fair amount of data for much of that time period. Numbers of all sorts got skewed during the years coinciding with the COVID pandemic but otherwise trends have generally maintained or risen in terms of donations of cash and bikes as well as our volunteer hours, and bikes given away/sold. One thing our Board and Staff sets as a yearly goal is keeping the ratio of bikes sold to bikes given away free as close to 1:1 as possible. This has required a balancing act of pricing some bikes higher when we need to slow sales down, or doing special events to give away bikes when we need those numbers to come up. Along that line we've had an annual "kids bike giveaway" that we promote around Christmas time where we give any child who wants one a free bike (under 26") and it's brought in a ton of great press for us and has put smiles on hundreds of kids' faces.
Cheers, Sam
*SAM HARALDSON *
Bozeman Bike Kitchen
President, Board of Directors
2104 Industrial Drive
A community cycling center
bozemanbikekitchen.org _______________________________________________ TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...
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My experience with the Bike Kitchen and AMS Bike Co-op in Vancouver BC is a little out of date, but from what I remember the volume of donations never really abated, but what went down was the *quality* of donations. We used to get a decent amount of 1970s/80s/early 90s bikes where even the low-end models were worth fixing up (steel rims aside). It seems we eventually scoured every garage of those types and started getting late 90s-recent big-box-store brands that are only worth their weight in scrap metal and maybe a few parts for scavenging. No moral judgement on the people buying these is intended, but it's very disappointing to see a Supercycle/Ironhorse/CCM or whatever roll in with absurd "faux-suspension" and triple gearing with steel chainrings.
Jean-François
Hey all, my name is Jesse Cooper and I've been a community bike shop mechanic in Vancouver Canada for over 20 years, and I agree that donations haven't really waned, but the quality certainly has. I find this unsurprising though with the rampant crush of capitalism. The lack of affordable good quality bikes has diminished, and maybe the older serviceable bikes are now coveted and less likely to be donated. Just a thought
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024, 20:43 Jean-François via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
My experience with the Bike Kitchen and AMS Bike Co-op in Vancouver BC is a little out of date, but from what I remember the volume of donations never really abated, but what went down was the *quality* of donations. We used to get a decent amount of 1970s/80s/early 90s bikes where even the low-end models were worth fixing up (steel rims aside). It seems we eventually scoured every garage of those types and started getting late 90s-recent big-box-store brands that are only worth their weight in scrap metal and maybe a few parts for scavenging. No moral judgement on the people buying these is intended, but it's very disappointing to see a Supercycle/Ironhorse/CCM or whatever roll in with absurd "faux-suspension" and triple gearing with steel chainrings.
Jean-François _______________________________________________ TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...
I share Jesse's perspective. I haven't volunteered at a collective since 2016, because that's when I started a commercial shop in my small town, but we've taken hundreds of bikes on trade since then, and I've observed the same thing. People are scraping the bottom of their barrels for any funds they can get, and meanwhile buying lesser quality stuff as they can afford. We live in capitalism's inevitable wake. :(
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 11:55 PM Jesse Cooper via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
Hey all, my name is Jesse Cooper and I've been a community bike shop mechanic in Vancouver Canada for over 20 years, and I agree that donations haven't really waned, but the quality certainly has. I find this unsurprising though with the rampant crush of capitalism. The lack of affordable good quality bikes has diminished, and maybe the older serviceable bikes are now coveted and less likely to be donated. Just a thought
On Wed, Jun 26, 2024, 20:43 Jean-François via TheThinkTank < thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote:
My experience with the Bike Kitchen and AMS Bike Co-op in Vancouver BC is a little out of date, but from what I remember the volume of donations never really abated, but what went down was the *quality* of donations. We used to get a decent amount of 1970s/80s/early 90s bikes where even the low-end models were worth fixing up (steel rims aside). It seems we eventually scoured every garage of those types and started getting late 90s-recent big-box-store brands that are only worth their weight in scrap metal and maybe a few parts for scavenging. No moral judgement on the people buying these is intended, but it's very disappointing to see a Supercycle/Ironhorse/CCM or whatever roll in with absurd "faux-suspension" and triple gearing with steel chainrings.
Jean-François _______________________________________________ TheThinkTank mailing list -- thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe send an email to thethinktank-leave@lists.bikecollectives.org To view this discussion on the web visit https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikecol...
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Consider this a flex on the part of Iowa, USA, generally: we get a TON of bikes each year and usually have more of a problem finding space for them than finding them in the first place (which is kind of where it sounds like you are atm).
If it ever does slow down, we've had a lot of success with bike drives before large item pickup days, if you have those. Also, you could establish relationships with nearby collectives - we supply bikes to other collectives in the area and I'm pretty sure the Bike Library does as well.
Glad that your third year's going well!
-Bobby
Bobby Kennedy Operations Manager 515-288-8022 c: 319-551-6174 bobby@dsmstreetcollective.org [cid:57ffb301-dedf-49d5-86dc-fac7e3dad749] ________________________________ From: thethinktank-request@lists.bikecollectives.org thethinktank-request@lists.bikecollectives.org Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 5:26 PM To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org Subject: TheThinkTank Digest, Vol 210, Issue 3
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Alejandro, I wish that I could work with you on these projects. Reuse and materials recovery are foremost among my priorities in this movement.
For Andy - a bit of a rant:
The scale of bicycle discarding in America is truly staggering. It's the result of a intersection of factors, the high-ish standard of living compared with the realtively low cost of a bicycle, along with the capitalist mindset of consumerism that means if something breaks, it's more desirable to just get a new one. An Americans' time and energy are considered equivalent with money, and when the relatively high costs for bike (or any kind of) repair in America are added to the time-and-effort expense of wrangling with a repair shop, the thrill of buying something brand new is especially attractive. Even as much as $500, spent enough years ago, for many Americans is easily forgotten. And if someone got their bike used, being therefore cheaper it's typically even more disposable to them. And if you're operating in a college town, these factors can be multiplied.
A lot of these intersections, in a slightly modified form, are also why bike theft is so crazy high in places in the U.S. - risk and expense vs. reward, police departments not prioritizing investigation because it's not a felony in most cases and the effort isn't worth it, thieves happy to take the risk because they most likely will get more out of it than they could potentially lose. In other words, the price point of the bicycle in this country relative to the amount of money in general circulation has a lot of collateral effects that we as community bike folks in the US will be dealing with perpetually.
Add to this that in the US, even adult bicycles are mostly considered athletic/sports equipment, something consuners here buy, barely use and then abandon almost like it was a single-use product. Kids' bikes are considered toys, and are discarded as soon as the child outgrows it.
So, yeah, for a decent-sized city, the spigot never turns off. It will slow down a little after word of your existence completely saturates your region, but there will always be new discards, and people who, even though they heard of you two years ago, just now finally got around to cleaning out the basement.
The only places I've ever heard of with bike shortages are in small, semirural towns where cycling wasn't ever practical.
In my area many people use the popular search engines to find local nonprofits that accept donations of bicycles and bicycle equipment. To keep bike donations coming, be sure that your shop web site's donations page clearly states your location, the types of bikes that you accept, and whether you are a 501(c)(3) that can generate a receipt for tax purposes. If donations ever run dry, use local press, radio, and social media to remind folks that their donation of good used bikes can help you make a positive difference in your community.
Another way to get bikes is to partner with local commercial bike shops. Sometimes when someone buys a new bike they ask if there is a place where they can donate their old one. A nice shop will either direct such customers to your facility, or collect used bikes on your behalf and phone you when it's time for you to pick them up.
Your donations website should clearly describe any limits you wish to place upon the types of bikes that you accept. For example, your shop may not want to accept bikes that have been stored outside and have turned into rusty lumps; however, a rusty chain is no problem. Other shops may choose not to accept cheap department store bikes as donations, if they already have a steady stream of more decent bikes.
On the other hand, in my experience, it's asking too much to expect a random donor to be able to evaluate the quality and condition of the bikes they wish to donate. If you can handle it, it might be best to accept all bike donations, take off any useful parts, and recycle or give away whatever you can't use.
Gordon
participants (10)
-
Alejandro Manga Tinoco -
Andy Ballentine -
Audrey Wiedemeier -
Bike Regina -
Bobby Kennedy -
Caleb Evenson -
cyclista＠inventati.org -
Gordon Hamachi -
Jesse Cooper -
jfcaron3＠gmail.com -
Sam Haraldson